Yume de Aru Youni
by HEr-NAMe-Is-DIVa
Summary: Heard of the J-Pop group ‘Buono!’? Well, I decided to ‘digify’ them. My first attempt at SORATO. More info inside. AU-ish. Edited: Advisable--please read past the first chapter.
1. Prologue::Journey

_::Yume de Aru Youni::_

**Heard of the J-Pop group 'Buono!'? Well, I decided to 'digify' them. My first attempt at SORATO. More info inside. AU-ish.**

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**Author's Note:**

The idea for this fanfic came (obviously) from watching some (okay, all) of _Buono!_'s promotional videos (PV's), and partially from my first written fanfic posted on this site, _'Fated'_.

As anyone can 'Google' _Buono!_ if they want to know more about them, I won't be elaborating who they are here. If you know who they are already - great; then you'll probably have an idea of what to expect.

This is pretty much an AU (Alternate Universe) fanfic (incase anyone missed reading it in the short-summery) so expect messed-up ages and probable OOC-ness.

This is also (once again if anyone missed reading it) my FIRST attempt at a SORATO. I tend to favor TAIORAs a tad more but – in my opinion - this particular fanfic just wouldn't work if Sora didn't end up with Matt (Yamato).

Special thanks to a good friend (and fellow _Buono!_ fan) of mine, **Nixie the Water Mage** for her initially inspiring this fic within me; as well as for contributing the fanfic's title.

Finally, I do not own any of the songs that may be mentioned later on. As to lyrics (should they appear), odds are, all of them are direct translations from their original Japanese forms. Credits go to 'projecthello(dot)com' for translations.

Well, that's it everyone, hope someone likes this fanfic. And if 'someone' does, do drop a review for motivational purposes—I work better with support. Thanks!

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**Prologue ~ Journey**

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_Sora stepped onto the stage._

_The auditorium was pitch black. A deep pool of massive darkness, illuminated only by the patterned-swaying motions of an awaiting crowd waving assorted arrangements of glow-sticks; left to right, right to left._

_Standing before Japan's night-crowned idols, the hoards of adoring fans chanted from their standpoints; calling out to the performers as a collective whole with words of embellished worship. And then their respective names…_

"_--!"_

_ "--!"_

"_Sora!!"_

_Sora smiled upon hearing the various chants, as did her two group mates. In the pitch-black darkness of the stage they knew none-other could see their smiles but them alone._

_As darkness shielded their movements, the three girls made for the center platform in collective unison; the selected spot of which their performance was set to commence from._

_The auburn-hair took her designated position as the trio's centerpiece – this would be her first time so. On either side of her, Sora sensed the movements of her group mates, and then none._

_Silence._

_Together, when music would finally boom through the gigantic auditorium, they would begin what was to be their best performance of their entire singing careers. It was what the trio had steadied themselves to believe, and believe in it Sora would; she (they) knew, they were ready for this…_

_After all, here they stood, in the very center of Tokyo Dome's colossal stage, to which some had gone so far as to label 'Japan's Vegas'._

_She had redeemed her self on this very stage some months ago. Now was the time to show the world the results of that redemption._

"_Ladies and Gentlemen!" "Boys and Girls of all ages!"_

"_Are you ready for this!?" The renowned, bespectacled announcer exclaimed, sparking a thunderous train of eager "woo's" and "yeah's" from the audience._

"_Well then, don't let me keep you waiting." "Singing their latest single, 'This Road', give it up for the one and only--!!"_

_And on that cue the crowd went wild; the auditorium was bathed in rays of celestial-white light beaming down onto the night's three angels; washing away the intense darkness as the audio for their newest single erupted through the dome's many speakers._

"_I'll walk along this road_

_No matter what happens_

_When we combine our power,_

_Something changes…"_

_They sang in perfect harmony. That's right, 'Perfection' – there was no other word for it._

_Through song, the famed trio addressed their beloved fans with cheerful expressions alighting their porcelain-fair features. Their motions were well-timed and angled to absolute precision, not to mention beyond the mere convincingly-heartfelt and energetically-powerful._

_Indeed, all doubts aside, this would be their best performance ever by a graciously long mile._

_As the song's rhythm picked up, so did the energy in the trio's movements on-stage. Their quirky dance moves made for an easy crowd-pleaser; their fashion-tastic garments of shimmery silvers, whites and effervescent blacks were marveled by all eyes; and their unyielding confidence and natural charismatic composures commanded utter attention._

_Sora executed her part of the choreography flawlessly; as did her two companions. The trio waltz around the colossal stage as rehearsed, switching fluidly between formations in turns for their respective solo lines. Still, when the chorus echoed aloud, Sora was always center-stage. There was, after all, a special significance for her centerpiece-position tonight and - surprisingly to others - it had absolutely nothing to do with her phenomenal vocals._

_Not a soul who knew the girl on a personal level would be able to deny the 'truth' this song held for her, more so than for either girl by her side on that stage tonight. Of the three it was she who had paced the wackiest journey…_

_It was she who had chosen the wackiest path…_

_It was she who walked the wackiest road…_

_The end of the second verse marked the trio's decent towards the front-most portion of the stage – a rectangular piece that clearly resembled a sort of catwalk-runway – and the entrance of fourteen other girls as the trio's back-up dancers; each one dressed in elaborate costumes of their own from their earlier performances._

_With exuberant fervor, the fourteen girls mimicked the just- performed steps of the singing trio as Sora and her two group mates continued their walk down to the very end of their makeshift road, pausing every now and then to hit a move or interact with the vigorously-energized crowd; the auburn-hair still retaining her center spot._

_Soon came the time for the individual, eight-beat dance solos, and again the trio executed their parts with sheer accuracy. The audience cheered even louder, if that was possible._

_Halfway across the platform, Sora found her self blissfully caught in the moment as she noted the V.I.P. box down center at the end of her dance solo. She knew that box housed the best seats in the auditorium. She also knew that tonight those seats were occupied by treasured family and friends, causing the girl to smile only harder._

_Sora's eyes glazed fondly upon the smiling faces of those dear to her before lingering on one handsomely-grinning face in particular, scarlet orbs fixing on enchanting cerulean-blues._

_As if by magic, the audio chose to soften at that specific moment into a mellower tune and the lights dimmed and focused on the night's sole, one-true auburn-hair angel._

_Sora's heavenly-melodious voice filled the Tokyo Dome; it's deep, pure-sweet quality mesmerizing all listeners out of their chairs – a standing ovation…_

"_I'll walk along this road_

_No matter what happens_

_When we combine our power,_

_We can see something…"_

_The auditorium was packed with enthusiastic cheers and erratic schemes of applause; all courtesy of the many avid spectators to the night's marvel. So many faces in the crowd, and yet, in Sora's eyes – at least for that moment - there was one._

_At long last the melody reinstated its upbeat tempo and Sora once again allowed her heavenly vocals to mesh tunefully with that of the two divas by her side. Together they traveled the remaining distance to the platform's end, bringing the magnificent performance to a close with a knockout hit to the song's final accent…_

"_I'll grab the future that is bursting open there with my own hands!"_

_Sora stood, panting hard. She had given her everything in that one performance and it had been evident._

_The magnitude of applause was staggering, almost equivalent to Tokyo being struck with a death-defying, level 7 earthquake on the Richter scale. The cheers and chants refused to cease and consecutive cries of "We want more!" (amongst others) could be deciphered from the shrieking crowd._

_Amid the hollering bunch were those fanatically jumping up and down from their locations in the auditorium and the mass majority of other fans punching the air with sheer excitement, glow-sticks and all._

_Ruby orbs drank in the miracle sight. Looking back, Sora knew it hadn't always been like this. In the past she had never dared dream her life would take the drastic twist it had to land her in the position she was in now; a turn – a blessing in disguise – that had occurred just a little over a year ago…_

**~O~**

Mobile phone in hand, Sora perched her self on one of the many metallic benches that littered the emergency department's lengthy corridor. Posture slumped over, tired eyes downcast to the floor, arms crossed scissor-like and draped over her knees as she hugged them to her chest. Grungy appearance of her hair aside, Sora had a mystified look about her. No doubt to the few passerbies' that threaded the long hallway and noticed her presence, they would all inwardly agree to one thing: the girl looked a complete mess.

Sora's sparkling ruby orbs that shone brilliantly on the more casual of days was now hollow, seemingly devoid of all joy. It was perhaps as if the fire within her had burned out and died…

Death…

Now there was a thought. The lonely corridor reeked of death. Then again, what hospital didn't? The halls were simply too quiet for her liking, adding to the growing eeriness of the surrounding atmosphere, and it wasn't until she willed a glance at the luminous blinking of her mobile's digital clock had she realize why. The ten o'clock benchmark had long passed – visitors were no longer permitted. Yet Sora refused to leave.

Feeling a sudden, quaint rage rise within her, the auburn-hair made a solid decision…

_I hate hospitals_, she thought deliberately.

After today, chances were that decision would never sway. But then Sora recollected certain events from mere hours ago…

On second thought, she didn't just hate hospitals; she hated the people who worked there too – the doctors, the nurses. She hated them for their uncanny ability to keep unbelievably cool and calm in composure while delivering horrible news about patients to their dear ones. Sora just didn't get it. To her, they only came off ice-cold; or worse, inhumane. Honestly, how could a person remain calm in knowing a life had no hope of being saved or worse, been lost?

Death…

Thousands had died behind these walls, and now her mother too could be one of them…

Sora inhaled deep breaths at the thought; all the while fighting back tears. Placidly, she shifted in her seat and reeled her upper body out of her previously slouched position, leaning her back against the ivory-washed wall behind. She sat there for a moment longer, eyes a daze, glaring towards the pale-colored ceiling with distress evident as could be upon her fair features.

Again – in no rushing mood, Sora heaved her tired limbs off the bench and sauntered over to the glass pane on the opposing wall. Looking through it, the auburn-hair sighed; sad and contemplative. On the other side of the glass window was the sleeping figure of a raven-haired woman – her mother – resting atop one of those white hospital beds, IV tubes and other unknown aid devices connected.

Sora noted her mother's countenance was ghost pale. It was far from a pleasant sight to behold.

A second later the teenager felt her head spin – just what was she supposed to do?

The doctors had informed her of the current situation hours ago but Sora had found it nearly impossible to think straight. Her mother had been fine - more or less - earlier in the day but now the woman look terrifyingly pale and sickly as ever, not to mention bedridden.

Leukemia…

_How? When?_ Alas they could not answer her that.

True her mother had gained a sudden proneness to high fevers since a month back. If that was any indication, clearly she had failed to grasp it.

For now, Sora held hope. There had been good news - the doctors had after all managed to stabilize Toshiko's condition, at least for the time being. The flip side to that notion however was her mother's unmistakable need for further treatment if the woman was ever going to be able to bounce back from the illness; that and the fact that the treatment would obviously cost a bomb.

With only her mother's flower shop as their income generator over the past decade, Sora easily knew there was no way on planet Earth they would be able to meet any such financial requirements the treatment demanded, especially with her mother out of the generating frame.

Sure enough, Sora had taken dropping out of school to fully maintain the shop into consideration, but really, what was the point? As it was, they didn't have much and lead modest lives. No way in heaven or hell could she see the possibility of making half the required amount through the shop's income alone; not even if she lived and worked to be a hundred!

The auburn-hair let out another quivering sigh, choking back a sob. Deciding it was time for another try, she wiped furiously at her stubborn tears; she couldn't give up yet. Sora flipped open the Samsung mobile still in her clutches and dialed a number engraved into her memory's core since a near eight years ago, despite never having dialed it before. Toshiko had mentioned it was only for emergencies…

Well, this was nothing short of an emergency.

One way or another, Sora had already informed the doctors that the payment for her mother's treatment would be met. A huge gamble, she knew, but as the alternative was to stand by idly and withstand the loss of a second parent…she just had to make this call.

To her luck, the cell number she had dialed earlier must have been switched off. She had left about a dozen 'missed calls' and 'voice messages', praying for a speedy reply.

Nothing…

She had endured hours and hours of waiting and still nothing…

_Please just pick up!_ The dial tone seemed to be mocking her…

And then, a cheerful high-pitched voice could be heard, greeting her with an exuberant 'hello'. Sora froze. The voice obviously belonged to a woman. Immediately, the auburn-hair racked her brain for a possible error in her recollection attempts – could she have dialed the wrong number?

"Hello?" The voice asked again, this time more questioning than it was cheerful.

Sora's heart only faltered; she needed to reach _him_.

**----------**

**To be continued…**

Just to clear things over, in any event, this is pacing in a sort of flashback sequence. I blame watching _Slumdog Millionaire_ for that. Heh.


	2. Chapter 1::I'm Here

_::Yume de Aru Youni::_

**Heard of the J-Pop group 'Buono!'? Well, I decided to 'digify' them. My first attempt at SORATO. More info inside. AU-ish.**

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**Thank You's:**

Okay, showers of thanks goes out to KoumiLoccness for the review, though I believe it has nothing to do with the previous chapter whatsoever. Ah wells, I shall pray! Of course, thanks to the few others who decided to put this fanfic on their respective alert lists and such. Thanks a bunch!

**Author's Notes:**

First, a couple of things you readers should know beforehand.

Several of the names/titles for groups, things, organizations, etc. that otherwise exist in real life (RL) have been edited to somewhat enunciate the AU-ness of this fanfic; in other words, the group _Buono!_ is not going to be called _Buono!_ in this story (think of everything as alternate forms of their RL counterparts and it being set in a parallel universe where things are done a little differently—well, that's AU for you!). Of course, you'll have to read on the find out what they will be called here.

Now here are some of the altered names/titles in this chapter:

**Information:** AU name/title : (RL name/title)

Orichalcon Charts : (Oricon Charts)

Sky! Project Kids : (Hello! Project Kids)

MINt : (TSUNKU)

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**Chapter 1 ~ I'm Here**

**----------**

Somewhere within the walls of the Fuji TV Headquarters in Odaiba, the opening of a door could be heard as two male individuals – a brunette and a silver-hair – stepped out from it and into the narrow hallway, neither looking particularly thrilled.

Glancing the area, there seemed to be no one about their immediate surroundings; a sign capable of alerting one to determine they resided on one of the uniquely-structured building's top floors, away from public eyes.

Giving the brunette leave to return the door to its close, the silver-hair of the duo relinquished to shed whatever calm was left in his demeanor and made a brief, frantic, gesture before strolling briskly down the empty hall and turning into a long corridor at its end. It was upon said turning when he heard his fellow, middle-aged colleague call out to him from behind with a distinguished: "Wait, Haru!"

Alas, Haruhiko did not wait, not truly anyway – he was in no mood to, not after the horrendous verbal beating he had just received from the other members of the newly-ended meeting; otherwise known as the Board of Directors. To accommodate the other male however, Haruhiko eventually slowed down his stride so as to allow the brunette to catch up to him.

When the man finally did, it was at a distance from the initial meeting room which Haruhiko supposed was probably far enough off in order for them to delight in conversation. They had to be. After all, the silver-hair would much rather kill right then over having any of the comments he had tucked in his head be heard by the board's members themselves once he chose to reveal them aloud.

Looking absolutely beat, he began with a bitterly-sarcastic remark on the horridness of the earlier meeting him and his partner had just sat through, cackling in mock, dreary fashion as he walked on towards the lifts.

"They are right though," offered his companion, referring to the board members.

The more self-composed of the two only went on to list the facts he knew oh-so-well would prove his point, making counting gestures with his fingers as he did. "The girls really haven't been pulling in the big crowds during concerts for a while now, album sales have plummeted beyond our knowledge, the promotional videos are hardly garnering any attention from the fans-"

Just then, the brunette paused to think. _The girls were losing fans… _Not good.

The silver-haired Haruhiko procured a grunt of irritation at his companion's words. Didn't the other know how depressing it was to be informed of their project's critically-disastrous statistics twice in the same day? Hadn't he already been heatedly scolded and reprimanded on how ghastly a job he was doing? What had he done to deserve any of this?

Thoroughly fed-up with the failing situation he had been dealt, Haruhiko breathed an exasperated sigh, continuing his friend's point-proving for him while not forgetting to add his bit of sarcastic-humor to the mix:

"And none of their latest singles are placing decently on either the Billboard or Orichalcon Charts," he finished, arriving before the closest elevator doors and jabbed at the 'down' button with more force than would be considered necessary. "I know, Hiro."

Haruhiko and Hiroaki waited semi-patiently for the enclosed doors to clink open at their level. Once it did, both men seemed utterly relieved to find the lift compartment completely void of people – thanking the time of night for the simple blessing – and hurried into it before continuing on with their not-so-delightful conversation.

"You know, Hiro," Haruhiko decided to point out, guiding the lift to the floor of his choice with the press of a button. His addressee on the other hand, kept his eyes devotedly-fixed upon the luminous dial showing the decent of floors the lift partook in, being sure to listen nonetheless. "We're going to seriously lose our jobs if we don't do something about this soon."

"Of course," he false-humorlessly added as the elevator doors swung open, "That doesn't exactly spell 'death' for you seeing as your eldest son is lead vocalist and bass guitarist for the famous Tokyo Wolves, which – let me remind you – happens to be the group that has been single-handedly dominating the Orichalcon Charts for several months now."

"Ah, and who can forget, your youngest son is a rising basketball star."

Hiroaki could only roll his eyes and shake his head disapprovingly at the mention of his children's success. _Haru_ _must be really out of it to be bringing that up_, the brunette deliberated. It was no secret: family…was a sensitive issue when it came to Haruhiko Takenouchi…

It went without question that Hiroaki knew his sons, Matt and T.K. would have his back no matter the outcome of his job life. But even so, Hiroaki Ishida also knew that if he were to be fired from his position at Fuji TV, it wouldn't sit well at all with either one of the two, especially Matt.

Besides, if he were to be fired from the company the media would have a field day, cooking up stories and what-not's – not exactly the sprightliest of events to provide for his sons' blossoming careers.

Having long left the lift and spotting several few other colleagues about the office corridors – no doubt returning to their homes after another tiring day of work, the brunette and silver-hair decidedly left their conversation on a short, momentary hold, not particularly in want to let-in on how dire their situation had turned out to be to anyone quite yet – one always had to be extra careful when it came to the entertainment business.

It wasn't until the duo settled themselves within the quiet privacy of Haruhiko's office room did their conversation resume, though neither appeared willing to risk the 'family' card again - thank goodness. After all, there were things of greater importance in need of their attention, such as their current situation, for starters.

"So," quipped Hiroaki, opting to lean against the edge of Haruhiko's large, wooden desk as the latter seated him self on the ebony-colored office chair.

It was Hiroaki's turn to sigh, watching out of the corner of his peripheral vision as the silver-haired male made to tidy up his desk. Perhaps as a means of distraction, papers were stacked, documents stored away, pens placed into their holders or rightful cases, and so forth.

All in all, the brunette waited stiffly for the other male to finish before posing his next sentence. "We need to come up with something to draw back the crowds," he said, an obvious statement.

"Any bright ideas?" And now, a pointless question.

"None we haven't already tried," came the pointless answer.

True to their word, it wasn't as if the duo hadn't seen their apparent dilemma slowly creeping up on them months back. They had expanded the new-year's auditions to neighboring countries in hopes of scouting out new talents, enlisted the aid of several well-known fashion coordinators to alter the girls images for promotional purposes, had other composers brought in to write new music (much to MINt's mortification), branched out into drama themes and Anime songs…

…anything one could think of. Yet, all to no avail.

Perhaps Japan had finally tired of the once-legendary Sky! Project Kids? Well, if so, then they were as good as dead.

And so the silence trailed on, suggesting to thicken between the two men as the they continued to raid their brains for some miracle solution. It was a long moment in which both men remained ensnared by their thoughts, stirring only when an abrupt, shrill ringing sounded from one of the desk objects – a phone-intercom.

Caught off guard, both men jumped at the unwelcomed distraction and could only obey their instincts to stare blankly at the ringing-object before sense decided to kick in.

Haruhiko made a gesture to reach up and rub the bridge of his nose, then combing it through his silver hair. He was evidently annoyed at the disturbance, despite the blatant-ineffectiveness of his and Hiroaki's brainstorming session.

Exceedingly hesitant, he willed the phone-intercom to cease its torturous ringing, bidding telekinetically for the object to either explode into tiny smithereens or melt into a pool of metallic grey-and-black; anything so long as it meant not answering the darn machine. Of course, the stubborn object refused to submit and kept up its torment. This caller was sure persistent. Still, he expected whoever would hang up eventually…

…and then 'whoever' did.

Both males resigned themselves to stare, having found the event suspiciously odd for whatever reason.

Inwardly, Haruhiko prayed the caller wouldn't try a redial. Hiroaki on the other hand, found him self uneasy about the call and compelled his friend to meet his eyes, conveying through expression that the other male "should have taken that."

Haruhiko merely diverted his gaze, looking as if a headache had claimed him.

Believing it for the best that he had better not pursue the matter, the brunette stood to leave, stretching his arms full-length as he made for the door. "Listen, I'll arrange a meeting with the producers and choreographers for tomorrow morning. Maybe we'll be able to come up with something then," he expressed hopefully. "Will get back to you shortly."

Just as the brunette had left the room, a buzzing was heard and again Haruhiko found his attentions wan to the stubborn phone-intercom, eyes narrowed.

Though still hesitant in mood, the silver-hair tapped at the intercom button, figuring he'd save him self from anymore protests on Hiroaki's part should this only continue when the latter returned with information on tomorrow's meeting. The irresolute voice of his otherwise habitually-jolly secretary drifted into audibility.

"Sir, it seems…you have an urgent call…"

Haruhiko merely quirked a brow at her vague announcement. "It seems?" He asked, confused and annoyed, leaning back dispassionately in his chair – now was not the time to bother him with 'it seems'.

"Sorry Sir, it's just…the girl…she seems to be crying…" "I think she said her name was Sora…"

Now that did the trick. _Sora? _His daughter Sora?

The man froze. This was incredibly sudden. He hadn't seen or heard from her in years, a near decade to be brutally honest.

Without delay, all hesitation aside, he allowed his secretary to patch the call through, picking up the cordless device this time around and practically leaning into it.

"D-Dad?" Inquired the sobbing girl. "Sora?"

The girl's voice was hard to hear. Her tone was exceptionally faint and her near-hysterical sobs were muffling her words severely, breaking them with violent snuffles before she had a chance to finish even the shortest of sentences. Soon, there were more sobs.

"Sora, what's wrong?"

Unbeknownst to him, Haruhiko's voice took on a softer, more comforting nature; somewhat the opposite to his earlier verbal dealings with the board members or Hiroaki.

He knew it had been a long while since they'd last spoken, and so he couldn't be too sure of her temperament now, but if Sora was anything like the seven-year-old he knew her to be all those years back when they were together, then it would be safe to assume something really grave must have occurred to make her cry so hard. Plus, she was calling him - something he was sure her mother, Toshiko would have forbidden her to on a normal basis.

"I…it's…" The girl tried.

After a moment or two, it became plainly obvious to the man that his Sora was having no luck fabricating a calmer composure.

Though she would not see it, her father's eyes curved in a pain-stricken manner as he listened to her so upset. Haruhiko shifted in his seat and clutched the cordless office phone tighter against the left side of his face. "Calm down, Sora. Please, tell me what's wrong."

"I-It's…mom…"

Haruhiko's eyes only widened in shock, his expression even more troubled than it had been minutes past as Sora elaborated (albeit through broken sentences) her predicament to him over the phone. When she was done, it took the older male a minute or two to relocate his ability for speech, telling her to stay put and that he was on his way.

An instant later, Hiroaki approached the silver-hair's office, having done what he had previously left to do. The brunette was about to place a triple-knock on the wooden plane but stopped mid-way as the man he was about to see flung the specific door out-of-the-way with sheer force.

Haruhiko rushed out past the brunette, coat on, looking even more ridiculously distraught if that were possible and muttering something about having to "be somewhere."

Left disorientated by the door frame, Hiroaki made to catch up to his friend for the second time that night; this time out of concern for the other male. Once that task had been accomplished, he reached out a hand and pulled on the other male's shoulder, halting any advancement and turned the troubled figure around roughly to face him.

"Haru, what's going on? Where are you going?" He asked sternly.

"My family needs me…"

Hiroaki's concerns did not dissipate then but the word 'family' was enough to convince him of releasing his grip. It was either that or perhaps the distant look of sadness and pain in his friend's eyes that did. In the end he supposed there was no real problem – he could always reschedule the meeting for when the silver-hair returned.

"I understand," he said, then watching as his friend left him with a weak smile.

It was after the brunette was certain Haruhiko had turned the corner leading for the lifts that Hiroaki shrugged and headed for his own office room, calling stridently on a person named 'Charlie' in the process.

Down front by the large, uniquely-structured Fuji TV Headquarters building, Haruhiko swiftly caught a cab and informed the vehicle's driver of his required destination - the airport.

He was headed for Naha, Okinawa.

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**To be continued…**

A little surprising to have Sora's father be a central figure in this chapter? Heh, well he's got a pretty decent role in this story. Guess this spurred from the fact I don't recall seeing Sora so much as having any interaction with her father throughout the first two Digimon seasons. Then again, Sora and her father probably aren't the only ones. Ah, whatever.

For the record, promotional video (PV) is more or less a music video.

Also, _Tokyo Wolves _is an alteration made on Matt's band's original name, the _Teen-age Wolves_; done basically because of the 'messed-up ages' thing I mentioned in the prologue chapter.


	3. Chapter 2::Fragile

_::Yume de Aru Youni::_

**Heard of the J-Pop group 'Buono!'? Well, I decided to 'digify' them. My first attempt at SORATO. More info inside. AU-ish.**

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**Thank You's:**

Again, thanks to the reviewers! KoumiLoccness, thanks for following this story so far, *hint hint* you might like the next chapter. To typoqueenofdoomXD, lol, first off, totally love the rocking username. You strangely remind me of a certain someone, but hey, that's just my whacky imagination. Anyway, thanks so much and don't worry, you'll find out what I have planned for this work of fiction so long as you keep reading on.

**Author's Notes:**

Alright people, prepare yourselves because this chapter just seemed like a 'sap overload' (if you know what I mean) to me while I was writing it out. If it does turn out that way to some of you readers, do relax for I do not foresee anymore overloads such as this one for several chapters to come. Oh, and I love reviews! ^_^

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**Chapter 2 ~ Fragile**

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A male figure took a step out of the cab, instantaneously taking in the sight of the large facility before his being with a somber expression. It was way passed midnight by the time he had arrived. The flight from Haneda, though only an approximate two and a half hours in time taken, had felt more like twice or even triple its actual duration to the troubled Haruhiko.

Then again, he was truthfully thankful there was even a flight available at all.

Through her sobs, Sora's information had been sketchy at best, though he hardly blamed her. He didn't think there many other girls her age out there who could have possibly dealt with the looming situation any better than she did.

The man sighed.

Well, he had to congratulate her on having thought clearly enough to text him the specifics shortly after their phone conversation had ended; after he had assured her that he would be reachable by mobile. Perhaps she wasn't coping nearly as bad off as he had initially taken to impression? Of course, upon glimpsing the twenty one 'missed calls' that appeared along with said text message on his mobile's display screen once it had been switched on…Haruhiko just wasn't too sure anymore.

Regardless, now here he was, by the front entrance of the Naha City Hospital, the Emergency Center to be exact.

And so, he stood there, gazing up at the titanic-sized structure; motionless, likely daft and not present mentally as passersby (both local and tourists) began jerking their curious heads in his direction.

Cab door hanging open with his semi-standing figure sticking halfway out the vehicle…it appeared to definitely be a curious spectacle, especially to the few who recognized him – if any.

Several excruciating (perhaps to some people flittering past or the other sentient nobodies seated in their respective four-wheels), car-hon-honking and angry-yelling minutes later, the already disheartened male took the hint and finally shut the cab door, earning him self a generous supply of mock "thank you's" from the lot of impatient cab drivers tailing behind.

Haruhiko only chose to ignore them, having had but one concern in mind since he had first left the Fuji TV Headquarters some four hours ago.

Genuinely, he had figured all this insane running around would have ceased the moment he set foot on hospital grounds, but as there was not a living soul by the reception area, his expectations infinitely dimmed.

Frustrated and haste being his prime, Haruhiko had dumbly (in his opinion) abandoned waiting for anyone to attend to him by the counter, ditched abusing the useless bell and dashed off in search of Toshiko's room and his daughter. He recalled Sora mentioning something about the "second floor" and "sitting outside".

He had wondered earlier why she would see fit to relay such piece of detail to him instead of a room number, along with everything else she had panned but now saw the morality in her preference.

As it turned out, locating Sora wasn't at all hard to do – despite Haruhiko's worries of not being able to recognize his own daughter and mistake her for some other female along the way. The many halls and corridors were quiet and vacant as it were, so when he'd spotted a teenage girl sitting pretty much alone on one of the benches outside a specific room…

…he knew it had to be her.

Sora had heard his approaching footsteps – likewise already knowledgeable of the hallways' human emptiness – and looked up from her initial crouching position on the bench. Recognizing the male figure almost instantly, relief briskly won over her features and a weak smile graced her fair countenance as she immediately leapt off the wooden object and into the man's arms.

The sudden display of emotion – or affection, whichever it may be – had shocked him quite a bit, but it was definitely far from an unwelcome gesture. With her, it could never be.

Haruhiko took in his daughter's appearance in the short, two seconds it had taken her to close all distance between them, letting those thoughts circulate within as he held the young teenager to his much older form.

He noted how grown-up she looked. His Sora would be seventeen this year and there was no doubt in his mind of how attractive she had come to be over the years they had spent apart. She was slender, well-proportioned and fit, healthy in every letter of the word, and her beautiful shoulder-length auburn locks held light beachy-waves in its texture. Easily enough, Sora – to a certain extent – reminded him of his ex-wife, Toshiko in her younger days; during the times when he had been undeniably enraptured by the raven-hair…

It had last been a whole decade since either one of them had been in the same room at the same time now. And though the matter of the situation they were presently in was nothing to be happy about, to Haruhiko, having the privilege of once again holding Sora there in his arms brought nothing short of bliss.

To think he was worried on not being able to recognize his own daughter. But then, a momentary frown formed on his visage.

Sora's natural beauty was obvious enough but that wasn't all he saw. Along with it, Haruhiko noticed the tension in her poise, the mild shaking of her limbs and her tired, blood-shot eyes - otherwise glistening the color of dazzling rubies - as they severed the hug. The sight only sought to remind him of the fact she had earlier been crying…

It was hurtful to watch, saying the least.

Opting to be strong for the both of them, Haruhiko returned his daughter's smile in favor; a reassuring hint visible in the small gesture. Staying by her protectively in stance, the man stroked a stray strand of auburn hair from shielding Sora's (undoubtedly) already heavily-blurry vision, curling it behind her right ear. "It's going to be alright now," he whispered.

Despite his calming attempts, the teenager only seemed on the verge of more tears. Happy or sad, or whether from the doubts she endured in her thoughts if things were really going to be alright now that he was there with her, or that she had finally been able to reach out to him again after all this time…Haruhiko didn't know. But just then, he didn't think it important to.

Feeling his fatherly instincts decide to kick in, he angled a hand to the back of her head and gently pressed the sobbing girl against his still form; not caring that her salty tears were drenching the front of his rather expensive coat.

~O~

Sora walked in as stealthily as possible, settling down on one side of her mother's bed. Following in after her, Haruhiko was treated to the sight of his ex-wife lying there on white sheets, connected to numerous hospital devices and machinery. She looked excruciatingly pale and sickly, a fact undeniable even to the dumbest of eyes.

Toshiko seemed lifeless to a degree, though through careful observation one would see the delicate rise and falls of the chest and stomach area – a sure sign the woman was still alive.

Charily as he could master, Haruhiko mimicked his daughter's example somewhat, but remained content to stand on the opposing side of the occupied bed instead of sitting on it as she had. He wasn't so sure the action would have been appropriate now, given their divorced status; added he wasn't particularly as light in weight as Sora was and could wake the sleeping figure – an idea most unappealing at the moment.

After all, what would he say?

"Leukemia, right?" he questioned eventually, eyes ever steady on his ex-wife's sleeping face.

"Acute leukemia," his daughter corrected, keeping her tone soft.

Though mainly to keep her mother from waking, Sora was also quite conscious of the fact visiting hours were long over. Still, the hospital was understaffed as it was so she doubted anyone would come along to shoo them both despite the hour.

"The doctors took a blood sample earlier. They did a biopsy too," she ventured.

Haruhiko nodded in reply, an assurance to continue. "Mom…she's okay…for now…but they said she needs further treatment."

Sora took a deep breath, shifting slightly in her seat. "They mentioned something about chemo, radiation therapy and…and a probable bone marrow transplant…"

Again he nodded, already knowing where the young teenager was going with this. A part of him strongly suspected Sora had beforehand mentioned what she was unloading on him now over the phone some four hours ago, though then she was sobbing so uncontrollably it was hard to catch anything from her broken words.

What was easy, Haruhiko decided, was deducing the kind of lifestyle the two females led at present.

Almost since he had come to know her, a conclusion had formed within his mind that Toshiko was positively not the hardiest of women about. City life had early on proved too suffocating for her and so they had moved back to her hometown, Naha, from Odaiba a few short years after marriage.

As far back as he could recall once the divorce had been finalized, the woman had resorted to taking over her family's business of running a modest flower shop and occasionally taught lessons on 'Ikebana' to interested locals as a means of generating income (not much, he presumed).

They lived a simple life. Thus, simply put, he too (alike Sora) saw the impossibility in the two ever coming close to managing payment for treatment procedures such as chemotherapy or radiation.

Certainly, Haruhiko Takenouchi could not confidently say for sure if he was a genius at figuring out treatment costs but it was no secret that such treatments were astronomically-priced.

"Dad?" Sora's voice stirred him from his thoughts.

He turned to face her, disconsolate emotions unfortunately swelling by the mere sight of a pleading expression she wore upon her facade. A brief visit to the restroom and several splashes of cool water on skin had done some good. Sora definitely looked much better now, nonetheless still unmistakably tired and upset.

"Please help mom."

"I…" Sorrow etched the silver-hair's features as he struggled in pulling the right words from the depths of his mind, intending to verbalize them.

Haruhiko didn't want to have to say the 'n' word, but at the same time he wasn't so sure how he was going to be able to offer the sort of help she was referring to.

The reality of the situation was, just wanting to help wasn't going to cut it. He may be one of the Sky! Project's Chief Executive Officers but with the project already on the verge of disaster things were not coming across too good regarding his own financial resources; heck his job was on the line…

Sora's father combed a nervous hand through his silver hair. "It's not…that simple, Sora," he choked out, sounding rather as if being strangled by some mysterious force.

Fact was, helping would indefinitely involve a whole lot of other people. Something (frankly) he could do without.

In a way, it all seemed to him as if history was repeating itself – here once again was he being cornered into choosing between his family and his career…correction, what used to be his family. And what of the people he worked with day and night back in Odaiba, weren't they akin to family for him too?

As he had anticipated, having said what he'd said, Sora looked hysterical; upset-hysterical, fists clenched unknowingly at the white blanket cloth.

"Please," she half-yelled, almost loosing her self to tears once again. "Sora…"

"Dad!"

"Stop turning your back on-!"

But just then Sora ceased mid-protest, feeling an unexpected warmth emanating from her left hand. Glancing downwards, the auburn-hair noticed her mother's pallid fingers encircling her own fair ones; tanned in appearance next to Toshiko's ghost-white appendages.

The girl altered her gaze a little. Haruhiko followed suit, consenting his hazel orbs to meet with once delicate, now jaded rubies before his ex-wife redirected her weary jewels upon their daughter and began to speak to her.

"It's alright, Sora," she reassured, smiling as best she could, considering her condition.

Feeling a bit put on the sidelines, Haruhiko watched the mother-daughter exchange with a sense of suppressed longing – these two still meant very much to him.

He continued his observation in silence, in due course drifting into his very own world of thoughts. Sora's latest words stung painfully for reasons he could never feign oblivious. For a long while he had stubbornly sought to brainwash him self that his past actions were right. Maybe they were, maybe they weren't. And though she had been interrupted mid-sentence it was still a hard hit, knowing that he had hurt someone so precious to him by following his dreams.

The male persistently continued to wallow in self-pity until a sudden request from his ex-wife piqued at his interest.

"I love it when you sing, Sora." Her mother affirmed.

The statement swiftly caused Haruhiko to jerk a stare at his daughter curiously. She, catching his eyes on her, shied away, looking as if about to object. Alas, her mother refused to be swayed.

"Will you sing for me?"

Seconds ticked by before Sora finally answered with a fairly hesitant nod, seemingly brushing her disagreement aside. Soon, she allowed tired eyelids to close upon ruby orbs and steadied her breathing. Toshiko relaxed, content as the young teenager's voice permeated the air, humming a gentle tune.

Haruhiko noted Sora was indeed well trained; his daughter's voiced was not only tender and pure but seized an intensifying depth to its quality. He could then but wonder how wide of a range she owned and fought hard to conceal his amazement at her melodious vocal achievement though failing miserably in his opinion.

It was a good thing, he decided, that her eyes were held shut for if she had left them open he was almost convinced she would find his clumsy-gawking a huge distraction…

Perhaps she already knew and thus kept them shut?

That matter aside, the melody she sung was one he knew not and had no lyrics (either that or she wasn't singing them); an original composition? It was without doubt a fine melody. And then an idea clicked into being; the very idea that would solve everything, or so he was willing to bet upon.

On the precise moment Sora completed her tune, a light knock was heard at the door. While a polite gesture in its righteous elements, whoever it was did not wait to be told to enter, threading in with an apologetic but stern air about him.

Clad in a long white coat and clutching a large clipboard in hand, there was no mistaking the individual for being a doctor.

"Suzuki," he called, waiting by the door.

Sora tensed at being addressed. She felt her earlier hesitance return but nevertheless wasted no time in slipping her hand out from under her mother's touch and making it out the door. The bespectacled male followed suit.

Haruhiko - still partially entranced by his daughter's singing - tracked the girl with his eyes as she left the room, note-full of the qualm her gait proclaimed.

Hazel orbs lingering on the two conversing figures outside through the glass pane, Haruhiko chose to ignore the verity that Sora was now using her mother's family name in place of his own. Instead, he ran over his options again, expression then perhaps a bit of a mystery to those who didn't know him so well, but the raven-hair spotted it without effort.

"You've something in mind, haven't you," she voiced, not quite in a questioning sort of tone.

Her words had caught him off guard and it showed. It was then when it hit Haruhiko that he had been left alone in a room with none-other than the woman who left him a near decade past…or was it the other way around?

Uneasiness settled in the air, yet Toshiko paid it no heed. Sora's mother only smiled. "I see her sometimes," she began.

"…when she thinks I'm not watching her, looking out to open water with a wishful expression…just staring off into the distance…"

Haruhiko looked thoughtful a moment. Toshiko clearly knew it was an old habit of his from when they had first moved to the island, and he remembered why he did it…

"You know, it probably wasn't meant to be for me…but I'm glad I got my chance. Sora however," she gestured to their daughter through the glass pane.

"I believe Sora's time has come."

Haruhiko studied his daughter a second longer, a knowing smile somehow finding its way onto his lips. "You taught her to sing," he too stated, not quite questioning.

"She's a talented girl," Toshiko replied. "And I'd hate to see such talent…go to waste."

To Haruhiko, his ex-wife's final statement seemed to in some way bring him to his senses. That was enough – he was through debating. He was through hesitating. His family needed him, what more was there to it?

"Thank you," he told the raven-hair, brushing his lips soothingly against the back of the woman's left hand before moving to join the two conversing figures on the other side of the wall.

Haruhiko exited the room just in time to hear the male doctor mention something about payment and proffer Sora the clipboard and a pen; the latter appearing near-evidently reluctant to accept the hovering objects positioned before her.

Having made his resolution, Haruhiko steeled him self – it was time to put on the businessman act.

The silver-hair straightened his coat and trudged forward towards his daughter and the bespectacled male, silently procuring both items in her stead. Scanning all documents with eyes like a hawk, he jotted down his signature where instructed, not forgetting any other important details.

Sora veered sharply at him, eyes wide, appearing apprehensive if she should opt to interject or not. Not long ago she had felt certain her father was not what one would call keen to with-hold the payment. And yet here he was. What had transpired within such a short while to have sparked his willingness now?

The male doctor stood quizzical too but made no audible comments whatsoever.

"I'm to be her temporary guardian," Haruhiko pronounced to said doctor, having noticed the weird look he was receiving upon returning the clipboard. The other male simply nodded, offering a semi-smile before being on his way.

"I don't understand," Sora admitted, baffled; once the doctor was out of earshot. She readily awaited her father's explanation through blinking ruby orbs.

Still, it was a while before the silver-hair found the vocabulary he had pieced together inwardly to be of decency to his liking. He heaved a long, deep breath and took her hands in his affectionately.

"Sora," he said, voice taking on a slightly more serious tone. "I have a proposition."

----------

**To be continued…**

Yes, I know, more of Sora's father here. I initially intended this to be part of the previous chapter but it obviously got too lengthy for likes. Plus I didn't think many people would be able to absorb too much information in one go.

And yes, Matt is yet to make an appearance. There will be plenty of time for him soon though.


	4. Chapter 3::Know How

_::Yume de Aru Youni::_

**Heard of the J-Pop group 'Buono!'? Well, I decided to 'digify' them. My first attempt at SORATO. More info inside. AU-ish.**

**----------**

**Thank You's:**

Major thanks goes out to my reviewers again. Nixie the Water Mage, glad to have your honest opinion there, I think (lol). KoumiLoccness, thank you again and congrats on turning 27! I know what you mean anyway but I guess it's just hard for people to come up with new ideas to work the couples sometimes. And to DigiDigiMonMon, lol, thanks and here's the update.

**Author's Notes:**

This chapter should provide a refreshing change from the previous two. Forgive me if the update was a little slower than the last. I've had one too many distractions being flung at me in the past week.

In case anyone's confused, Sora is supposedly using her mother's (invented) family name instead of her father's in this story; meaning her name here is Sora Suzuki. Additionally worth noting is that one of _Buono!_'s member's family name is also 'Suzuki'. See what you can make of that~ ^_^

**Information: **AU name/title : (RL name/title)

P!nku*Chorus : (Berryz Koubou)

**----------**

**Chapter 3 ~ Know-How**

**----------**

Having just heard possibly the most glorious of news since he couldn't even remember when, Koushiro bounced excitedly off his now-swirling study chair and began trudging about up and down his narrow room, no doubt confusing his sole listener with fretted mumbles and murmurs directed at none other than him self.

Suddenly caught by a sense of flittering revelation, the red-head let out a prolonged (and definitely unexpected) squeal—almost akin to a deranged-lunatic-al fangirl to some all-too-famous rock star—before diving into a pile of otherwise neatly-stacked CDs, all the while numb to the pair of ruby eyes that remained non-blinkingly shocked by his display.

A second or two longer of speed-searching and throwing CD after CD aside, it seemed Kouhiro had found the object of his intentions. Then, as if finally remembering he had company, rushed over to his friend and viciously pushed the object into her hands.

Sora looked astounded for a moment, awkwardly catching sight of her friend's pleading stance before her sitting one—Koushiro had his hands clasped together in a sort of praying style, raised to his forehead, eyes close in revere. But then of course there were his repeated requests to:

"Please get Mimi's autograph for me! Please get Mimi's autograph for me!"

_Mimi huh_, Sora thought vaguely.

Glancing downwards at the item her red-headed friend had so violently pressed into her grasp, she recognized it as the latest P!nku*Chorus album released some couple of months back.

Twirling the cover in her right hand, Sora found her gaze land on the cover picture where the group's members stood united in vibrant outfits of a kind. She then focused her vision on the center individual, spotting a devilishly-perky grin and frighteningly pink hair—Mimi Tachikawa, P!nku*Chorus' main vocalist, one of Japan's most renowned drama sweethearts, and...

"Please get Mimi's autograph for me!"

…the obvious object of Koushiro Izumi's affections, or obsessions; whichever fit the bill.

Sora smiled at the boy's non-ceasing chants. Privately, she wondered for how long the teenager could keep it up and decidedly cast a pensive look out the nearby window. Sora noticed the weather was fine, though it was dark out. It definitely made her think back on some things…

As of now, it would soon be almost a week since that night at the hospital—her mother's condition, the emotional-yet-uncomfortable family reunion, and her father's 'proposition'.

The last bit had come as a complete surprise. Sora hadn't known of her father's connection to Fuji TV or Sky! Project; she hadn't anticipated it either, even with the knowledge of both her parents having been heavily inclined towards the music and entertainment genre in the past but now that she did know, well, there was quite a lot to think about…

"Sora?" Asked Koushiro, wondering why his friend had such a faraway look on her face.

His call had done the trick and Sora - keen to avoid the boy's questioning – replied with an affirmative to his earlier demand, hopped off his bed in one fell swoop and casually took several steps past the kneeling boy genius before stopping to stare at his desktop's computer screen.

A smirk graced her lips, indeed Koushiro had proved his genius many times in the past but honestly, she didn't think that prodigy-al brain of his had ever come to be of more use before than it was now.

"So, you're almost done with this right?" There was no need for any useless gestures. Koushiro would be able to tell what she was referring to, seeing as the very thing was virtually plastered onto the huge monitor.

Koushiro rose and stood by his female friend. To answer her, he lightly skimmed through the assortment of wavering lines that danced across the screen and nodded twice after a rough half-a-minute, showing that he was. As an after-thought, the boy genius then scratched the back of his head absent-mindedly, phrasing his next choice of words:

"Not that I mind, Sora but you still haven't told me why you want me to finish this one so bad." It was the very song she had sang to her mother during that night spent in the hospital.

Sora relayed that piece of info to him. "It caught his attention, Izzy," she said, fondly using the boy genius' suited nickname. 'Izzy' on the other hand, rolled his eyes at her, having long given up with protests. Years spent together through middle school and now high school had allowed him the time to get used to her calling him so; never mind his inner dislike for the nickname.

The auburn-hair turned her back on the monitor screen to lean against the front of Koushiro's desk. "Dad said he really liked the song. He asked about its name and lyrics," she continued.

Koushiro plopped back down on his chair. He had a skeptical look on. The song was still a working process—it had no name or lyrics as of yet and he didn't think he'd be writing any soon, not with the present excitement clinging onto him anyway. Now that Sora was grabbing onto such an exorbitant opportunity he had other things to worry about besides composing songs and writing lyrics for them; she knew that well.

"Wait a second, you mean to tell me your father literally asked you to join Sky! Project based on you singing this one song?" She nodded. "And without any lyrics?"

Sora noted the rise in pitch her friend's voice seemed to be undertaking. It was her turn to roll her eyes at him. "Didn't think I could make it?" She joked.

Koushiro blinked, leaping into a smug disposition. He faced the computer screen. "Me doubt Sora Suzuki's singing? Impossible! You're definitely better than any of the other Sky! Project Kids I've listened to so far."

His reply prodded a smile on her part, but Sora really did feel a rare urge to tease her fellow red-head a tad more. "You wouldn't be saying that if Mimi Tachikawa was here," she preached sing-song-fully.

"…you're right, I wouldn't." She gasped, "Izzy!"

"You're prodigious, you know that?"

"Hmm?"

The word 'prodigious', it was an 'Izzy trademark' sort of thing, or so Sora had labeled the word. It was probably the highest ranking among compliments the boy genius would come to award any one persona whenever he truly felt they deserved it—not that he hadn't used the word on her before, but the auburn-hair had to wonder what he had meant by it this time. She blinked at him, inquiring.

Koushiro nonetheless, kept his thoughts utterly to him self. After all, he wasn't particularly familiar with the auburn-hair's father. Heck he hadn't even met the man in person, having entered Sora's life years after the divorce had taken place but he had heard stories from her; more or less…

From what he knew, Sora never seemed anywhere near exquisitely eager to discuss the subject of her father with anyone and truth be told, he respected her privacy. He could understand. Being an adopted child, Koushiro too preferred straying away from such conversations, fearing either one of them would unintentionally touch upon something sensitive.

Moreover, there were no pictures of her father over at Sora's home quarters so Koushiro had not even known of the man's appearance or name. To think he would later discover that his best friend's father was in fact the Haruhiko Takenouchi, C.E.O. and founder of the legendary Sky! Project label and chief architect to all their unprecedented success till present.

It was a ridiculous treat! Not to mention the near heart attack he had fought away when she sought to deliver the news to him earlier today and ask for his help. Koushiro felt it a major double-slap to the face he hadn't decided to investigate sooner.

But anyways, past mistakes were past mistakes. For the man to have offered Sora to be a part of all that based on her singing an incomplete song, and in a non-audition setting…there would be no denying she was 'prodigious'.

The boy genius breathed a sigh, he was sure to be spending his school lunch breaks locked up in the computer labs now without his companion. "Hey Sora," he voiced, catching the girl's attention once more since she had looked away at not getting an immediate response. "Yeah?"

"When you get there, don't forget about the little people still stuck here on the isle." It didn't take long for Koushiro's hidden message to sink in, causing a light chuckle to escape the auburn-hair's lips as her smile softened.

"Never," she said with heart, moving to hug her best friend from behind. "Honestly Izzy, if I'm ever going to be really famous I'll have to come back for you, oh great songwriter-producer friend of mine," she added, rocking him playfully from side to side through her hug. Koushiro only let his look of skepticism return.

"Actually Sora, to get really famous you're more likely going to have to overcome this whole I-can't-sing-in-front-of-people-I-don't-trust thing before anything." Koushiro hit the nail right on the hammer with that one.

Sora's rocking stopped as she brusquely began to look queasy. "Ugh," she drooped against his back, inwardly cursing at her genius-of-a-friend and his logic. "Why'd you have to remind me," she shuddered. Koushiro simply disregarded her feeble composure.

"So, when are you leaving?"

**~O~**

Hiroaki returned to his home apartment that same evening. Literally beat, the man opted to lean against the entrance door once he had shut it close and locked, rubbing a hand against his mildly aching forehead. The brunette permitted the appendage to slide down the bridge of his nose before uncaringly dropping said hand back to his side.

Hoisting him self off the heavy timber door, Hiroaki took in his immediate surroundings and breathed out a tired sigh. The place looked as unwelcoming as always—socks and other clothing items scattered about the sandalwood tiles, newspaper clippings about, and he strongly suspected the kitchen would have a 'lovely' pile of unwashed dishes in need of tending. How…'thrilling'!

Indeed for a second there the middle-aged brunette figured having Nancy around the house still to nag him and the younger ones about cleanliness, hygiene and to just put-things-back-where-you-took-them-from might have been a fine idea.

Ah, but then Hiroaki recalled her obsession with her job and the media gossip and instantly reconsidered the 'fine' idea.

Listening in carefully as he discarded outdoor dress shoes for the more comfy indoor slippers, Hiroaki could make out a low-toned melody originating through an arch further along from where he stood in the apartment's foyer.

The man threaded forwards, aiming for feather light footsteps while he crossed the distance from the entrance to the archway as several deep notes rang aloud, resonating serenely in the evening-cooled air—or was it just that the cooler had been on?

Either way, Hiroaki soon realized that his near-silent footsteps, mustn't have been all too silent at all for as soon as he was about to turn the corner into the living area the low-toned melody ceased; replaced instead with a greeting…

"Dad, welcome back," wished a rich, baritone voice; a voice that had courteously left its powerful mark on the many songs that had claimed the top spots on the Orichalcon Charts since a number of months down the road.

Hiroaki's eyes simply glazed over the vision of his eldest son sitting rather comfortably on the living room sofa, his prided bass guitar, Garurumon in hand.

A little out of it (likely due to the stress of work), he exhaled a low grunt and hauled his eyes shut, rubbing at them with his fingers. Opening them again, Hiroaki looked up, sure of him self this time and was undeniably treated to the exact same image of none-other than the famous, popular and natural-blonde, Yamato "Matt" Ishida, who now wore a very handsome smirk on his flawless façade—so the Rockstar was home for once, a nice change; would serve to brighten his day no doubt.

"Rough day?" Challenged the blonde, quirking a brow. His father's reply was a meager, slow saunter to the kitchenette and filling up an empty glass to the brim with filtered water, followed by sounds of a heavenly-large gulp.

Yamato blinked. "I take it that it was," he quipped suspiciously, curious as to what the matter was.

Yamato knew his father was a busy man but the whole 'staring at him like a zombie would and rubbing his eyes thing', not to mention that stunt with the water: what was with those out-of-character reactions?

"Dad, something major going down at station?" He asked when his father had returned to the living room, noting the absence of a water glass.

Hiroaki scratched the back of his neck in an exhausted manner, choosing a seat opposite his Rock Star-of-a-son. The man smiled through his fatigue nonetheless—it had been a wide-spread number of days since he had last had a chat with his equally busy offspring.

"Wouldn't you like to know," the older male chipped back. "Haru's been slave-driving everyone under him like a madman since he got back the other day. Apparently, he claims he's found the 'it' girl," he launched; instinctively knowing that what he intended to say next would so eat away at his son's mountain-sized ego…

"The one that will – as he puts it – 'save Sky! Project and give the Tokyo Wolves a run for their money'," he smirked, though mindful to hold his son's gaze, showing he was dead serious.

Yamato glared back intensely, never one willing to lose in their little staring contests. It was somewhat of a mock tradition within their small two-man household. The act was albeit childish he supposed, but it did however proffer up a good laugh on occasion; if not then to boost his already inflated ego.

Focusing hard, the blonde willed the force of his glare to heighten but sullenly found him self on the loosing end as his father's smirk only broadened, weakening his defenses. At long last he jerked away. "Shut up, dad."

"Ah, but we both know you want to know more, Matt." Yamato 'hmph-ed' at his father's…well, fatherly-ness, setting Garurumon down next to him on the teal-green sofa. He could not argue with his father's statement—he would have begged to be told more about something like this (a potential threat).

Yamato leaned forwards in his seat. "Enlighten me then, father," he pushed on, baritone voice taking on a tone of derided amusement. "Pray tell, who is this so-called 'it' girl who's going to knock me and my fellow wolves off our high-end pedestal?"

To the blonde's surprise, the brunette merely shrugged in response, causing Yamato to narrow his eyes somewhat in frustration. _This better not be a joke…_ He thought.

"Don't tell me you don't know."

Deciding to add to his son's escalating impatience, Hiroaki posed a second shrug. "I'm not kidding, Matt." And he wasn't…

"It seems Haru discovered her while visiting his family back in Okinawa. The girl has no entertainment history whatsoever and he plans to bring her in as we speak despite the yearly auditions being over."

"So you're telling me that my band is supposed to tremble in fear come the appearance of this 'nobody' singer?!"

"Nobody singer or not, you know better than to belittle Haruhiko Takenouchi's judgment. He's got an eye for this sort of thing, that guy." Yamato seemed to agree to that fact—as if Sky! Project's success till now was anymore than proof.

Suddenly finding him self at a loss for words, the blonde flopped backwards against the sofa's cushiony-soft exterior and just…lay there, looking ineptly-dispassionate for once in his Rock Star career. And to think only moments ago his father had been the one having an off day.

Threading more or less on the same wavelength, Hiroaki rose off his seat, preserving the joy of triumph he had in unnerving his eldest son. To some it might have seemed a speck cruel but considering where each man stood in the local music and entertainment industry, it was nothing new or of concern to the father-son duo.

Besides, bouts as such came way too few these days in Hiroaki's opinion, and it was fun to know that he had won one after what had been a decently long while. The elder man took out his mobile.

"Haru's arranged for her to debut in the Sky! Project concert next month," announced the brunette, bringing the device to his ear.

Yamato sat staring after his father's back as the latter began speaking to whoever it was on the line named Charlie, before leaving the room.

As he heard the soft click of the door being shut, the blonde felt a rising aura of determination envelope his every being—this he had to see with his own cerulean orbs. No way was he about to let him self be beaten by some 'nobody' singer.

"Bring it on, 'it' girl."

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**To be continued…**

*Cackles maniacally* And so Yamato makes his appearance at last. Hopefully that garners attention from you readers enough to review. I shall hope.

Credits go to Nixie the Water Mage for sparking a name for Matt's guitar—though I know it's far from original.

Oh, and I do hope you enjoyed the huge KOUMI hint in the first portion, KoumiLoccness.


	5. Chapter 4::Urban Mermaid

_::Yume de Aru Youni::_

**Heard of the J-Pop group 'Buono!'? Well, I decided to 'digify' them. My first attempt at SORATO. More info inside. AU-ish. **

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**Thank You's:**

To KoumiLoccness, I'm not so sure I got everything you said but I guess you like it, no? Lol, thanks. And to petites sorcieres, thanks again for the positive review. Stay tuned and you will definitely know more, and no worries as Tai does appear in this story (almost everyone – minus the Digimon – does actually).

**Author's Note:**

So I've been sidetracked with various tasks since the last update and many things have just been wearing me down: to think not having classes to attend can still leave a person so busy, figures.

Either way, here's an update and I have exactly one month left before semester begins. Therefore, I hope to be able to push this fic forward (at least) another three chapters before things might just have to slow down implausibly—wish me luck.

On another note, one would have probably realized by now that the SORATO isn't progressing very fast here so, to clear things off, this isn't a story that is supposed to centre around 'love'—it's more Sora's encounter with fame where 'love' just so happens to weave its way in. What does that mean? Well, basically, be patient—it will happen.

Finally, for those interested, _Buono!_ Has just had their official concert held. The videos are available on _Youtube_ so do check them out if you will. The concert's opening number also just so happened to be the song _'Co-no-mi-chi-'_ (translation: _'This Road'_): the song I was channeling in the prologue chapter.

Coincidence? Maybe. I had one heck of a laugh. Alright then, on with the story!

**Information:** AU name/title : (RL name/title)

Mai`Co : (C-ute)

**----------**

**Chapter 4 ~ Urban Mermaid**

**----------**

Sora stared out of the cab window, ruby orbs potently drinking in the unfamiliar sights of her country's Capital as they headed for the Fuji TV Headquarters in Odaiba. Her father sat on the far left side of the vehicle. However, the city itself being his home of decades past the man appeared seemingly more engrossed in conversation with a certain speaker over his mobile phone, leaving his seventeen-year-old daughter to her many musings.

Sora didn't mind. Rather, she thought it a perfectly fine. There had been much to think about thanks to the many happenings that had seen fit to occur over the course of a short, ten day period. It was all still, a little far-fetched; surreal...

They had just come directly from Haneda Airport. He (her father) had picked her up upon touchdown. Though lacking a personal means of transportation, they had ended up taking the cab.

Sora didn't mind that either. To her, a cab seemed the brightest solution. After all, with her bags and luggage in tow, (though not a bulky amount in her opinion), the trains wouldn't have made things easy, especially considering it was still morning; signalling the presence of 'rush hour' when local residents would be scurrying off to work, flooding the compartments—not the most pleasant of Tokyo experiences.

Haruhiko had also forewarned that they should try to not attract attention, which, more or less meant that they should avoid crowded places with risks of being seen together. Sure she may be a total 'nobody' as of for the moment but the same could definitely not be said for the man sitting to her left.

And though the paparazzi (she was told) came nowhere near as inhumane in comparison to say, Hollywood. Sora figured she might as well play it safe and brought along a little something to help shield her most obvious feature from view—her trusty, sky-blue helmet hat.

The auburn-hair had also cautiously spent what little of her time in the big city thus far pretending interest in the gravel below her feet. As such, the cab's shadowy tint and speedy zooming served very much to her liking and she found herself free to look about from her perch on its back seat.

From a distance, Sora's fascinated eyes caught on the view of a huge Ferris wheel from the cab's speeding position crossing Rainbow Bridge; a sure sign they would soon be upon the large man-made island. She had never ridden on one before and suddenly felt a rise of curiosity yield within her; a want to see how it would feel—being that close to the sky...

Thoughts of a 'rainbow' conversely led her back to her friend, Koushirou whom was still back in Naha. She then remembered that the boy genius too had never been on one of those skyscraper-tall wheels. And though her fellow red-head was always more the indoor type and would much rather not spend his time floundering about in some amusement park the teenager had his moments, as Sora assumed all people did.

Now that it had crossed her mind, she was beginning to wonder if Koushirou was really going to be able to take care of things back home like he had promised he would. It was not that she doubted her friend's capabilities in the least – a thing she had come to learn never to do – but she had posed him a bit of a troubling situation, she supposed.

Koushirou's folks and her mother had been good friends for a while now. Together, she and her Mimi-crazed friend had discussed the situation with them and they, as did he, had readily agreed to offer any needed assistance.

And so, while one of Sora's older cousins was taking over the flower shop for Toshiko temporarily, Koushirou's mother, Masami had decided to lend a hand whenever she could, seeing as she often didn't have much to do around the house. Koushirou too assured that he would be dropping by after school hours on occasion and make sure to visit Toshiko in the hospital, not to mention keep Sora posted on things back home.

The auburn-hair had been a tad reluctant to leave her mother behind on such short notice, what with the woman's condition. But Toshiko had encouraged her to go with every cell in her ailing body and wouldn't have sat still until Sora complied.

Ah, then there was Koushirou with his...obsession.

Soon the sight of the pier and the huge Fuji TV Headquarters building wafted before her and the cab pulled to a halt. Sora gazed upwards in awe of the colossal structure's mass, ignorant to her father's settling the cab fare beside her.

"The view's better from outside." She registered his words and the silent gesture that accompanied them, slipping out of the cab and towards some wooden-planks situated nearby.

Practicing plausible balance and poise, Sora hopped up onto the wood platforms to get a better look up, shielding her eyes from the sun's scorch-glaring rays as she did. Inwardly Sora decided her father was so right—the view was pleasingly superior from where she stood now...

_Such...eccentric architecture... _Well, what else was she to say about a commercial office building that looked more like the latest in top-class shopping malls? Plus that funky globe-like feature so prominent from mainland Tokyo.

Meanwhile, Haruhiko was left with the task of gathering the girl's things for her from the cab's back interior. He made for the building's entrance as the vehicle drove off, watching out of the corner of his eye as his daughter waltzed about the pier, seemingly awe-struck by every little thing she could see and make out. He had to smile at her reaction—it was like watching a six-year-old visiting Disneyland for the first time.

"Red!" he called after her, catching her attention. Sora was just about to leap down the nearest end of slopes that separated the pier and the beach when she turned around to look at him. The silver-hair gestured to his wrist to find her nod in return. There would be time for sight-seeing later.

Seeing her hurrying towards him, Haruhiko bade his time and walked into headquarters; Sora retaining a not-too-obvious distance on his trail. He steered her to where the lifts were and allowed his access card to do the trick in guiding them to the public-restricted floors.

Conversation till said point had been pretty much lacking between the father-daughter duo as Sora had somewhat taken the whole keeping-distance issue a little too seriously and was continuously getting distracted with her immediate surroundings. In the lift however, it seemed she had finally found nothing worthy of new amusement and began to appear evidently jittery as the situation soon dawned upon her, rubbing her arms up and down and shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

Her father took notice. "Nervous?" He asked, knowing her answer in advance. Haruhiko had learnt from Sora and her mother both that night in the hospital about her problem with keeping her nerves under control in the presence of individuals she felt uncomfortable with. After all, she had almost shied away from singing that night because he was there too…

Apparently, the girl's humble upbringing had left her lacking in the confidence department.

It would be an obstacle at first, they knew that. But Sora had expressed willingness to do her best and hoped to overcome it. She had said that there was no way she was going to sit around feeling useless when she clearly had a chance to help lessen her mother's suffering. So while her 'problem' had pretty much tossed Haruhiko's initial plan of having her go solo out the window, in a project that specialized in forming chart-climbing Japanese-Pop girl groups, there were certainly other alternatives...

"...kind of...yeah..." her reply came as shaky as ever as the duo exited the elevator and she was led down a lavishly carpeted corridor.

The silver-hair put an arm around his daughter in a calming attempt. He didn't know how effective his actions would be but recalling his ex-wife and the hospital-night he guessed what Sora needed was some positive reassurance and a firm push in the right direction.

"You'll do well," he went on. "It's only an evaluation, and MINt just needs to see what she's working with." Sora was still a little fidgety but nodded nonetheless. She definitely did not want to back down.

"Thanks dad..."

Haruhiko stopped walking, stiffening unintentionally, causing his daughter to jerk to a halt herself as well. She looked up at him, quizzical, wondering why he'd done so as his hand slid off her shoulder.

"Um..." He began, seemingly stealing away some of Sora's nervousness for himself. He had forgotten to inform her of one exceedingly important piece of detail: "This might seem a bit much to you Sora but, for the time that you are here as a Sky! Project member...I think it would be best if you kept our blood-relation secret."

The auburn-hair appeared taken aback, for obvious reasons. Momentarily forgetting her nerves, she had almost shot out to question him of her need to do such a thing but instead somehow recollected the time she had made to tell Koushirou who her father was. Sora looked to the ground.

She quite remembered the boy genius displaying his original disbelief, brandishing on and on about how he'd read Haruhiko Takenouchi's public-released biography off the Sky! Project official website and that the man was allegedly divorced with no mention of children...

Sora supposed a sudden appearance on her part to the public as 'Haruhiko Takenouchi's Daughter' would probably grab unwanted attention: attention of a most negative light.

"It's for your protection," her father enforced. "Not just from the media," he then added hurriedly, reading her expression. Haruhiko switched his gaze about the hallway, checking in for signs of any lingering presence, thankfully finding none. He sighed, uneased.

"Fact is, I'm breaking a lot of regulations bringing you in out of the blue—no formal auditions, no putting you through training period like those who pass their auditions, literally chucking you into the main frame," he explained. "And while it's true you have talent, letting the public know of our connection might lead others to believe you got in here through my favour..."

"And I don't want that for you."

He reached over and rubbed the back of her hand warmly. "Sorry, but at least for now, you understand…"

Though a little hesitant, Sora nodded slowly. True she wasn't at all keen regarding this particular situation but she also had to remember—she wasn't the only one involved. Questions would soar. Besides, this was the only way she was going to be able to help her mother for the time being; ruining her chances voluntarily now that she had made it this far..._not happening_.

Her father, more or less satisfied with her compliance, began leading the way again. "Then...what do I call you?"

Haruhiko thought about it for a second. "Haru, like the others do."

**~O~**

A young female with short, hazel-brown hair and eyes a similar, but darker shade proceeded to down the contents on her water bottle, draining what was likely half of the container's water, or so she suspected anyway.

The feel of the cool liquid gushing down her throat was a sure relief to the young lass, especially after the insane load of a workout she and her fellow Sky! Project Kids had been made to endure all morning. The project's recent disastrous-regarded statistics were putting the pressure on high-rise for her and the others and a lot was being expected of them to buck-up and pull the crowds back in…hopefully.

Dripping with sweat, the female had half a mind to drown herself with what remaining contents of her water bottle to make her feel refreshed but just as instantaneously thought better of it—now was surely not the time to look for a scolding over a silly thing as dirtying the amphitheater. So instead, she settled in grabbing for the pink-and-white striped face towel she'd brought along from home to dab at the offending perspiration, setting both objects down beside her backpack when she heard her name being called.

"Kari, full-song rehearsal!" The voice shouted.

"Coming Tomoka!" Hikari called back to the older girl and Captain of her home Sky! Project group, Mai`Co.

Hurrying back to the stage area of the moderately-sized amphitheater, Hikari realized she was not the last to arrive as several few of their lot had made necessary detours to the floor's restrooms; most possibly having drank way too much water throughout the lasting practice hours, inkling that their so-called five minutes break would probably last longer than so.

Meanwhile, their head dance instructor and choreographer, Fujiama-san was busy reprimanding P!nku*Chorus' youngest member, Cho on her apparently 'lifeless' dancing. "You need to put more energy behind your moves and not cut-short every motion! Watch Kari's dancing, maybe you'll learn something." The bespectacled man sighed desperately, shaking his head.

Hikari caught sight of Cho's repetitive nodding and apologizing. The young girl, sixteen-years of age as Hikari was, wore a troubled expression as their sensei pursued onwards with his rambling. The teenage-brunette merely rolled her eyes at the other girls who had gathered around her and caught on to the situation as they stood a safe distance away from their flustered teacher. Her reaction earned some giggles in response.

"So Cho has more problems with dancing than the rest of us, but she's a great singer," Hikari began. "Honestly, sensei's only making it worse—like bringing me into the conversation is going to help with her self-esteem?"

"Well, what can you do," chimed Maaya, P!nku*Chorus' Captain, putting in her two cents. "Sensei just 'adores' showing off his favorite little S!P Kid to the rest of the world, doesn't he?"

"Yeah Kari, you are officially the most rocking dancer in S!P history, and you always get the center spots."

Alas Hikari laughed the statement aside. So maybe she was a pretty decent dancer among her peers, and perhaps one of the youngest. After all, dancing (she had to say) was her first love, singing just came with the package and here in Sky! Project she was overall just glad to be given the opportunity to do both and be applauded for her versatility. "I get the center spots because MINt keeps giving me a lot of the lines, not just because I dance well," she reasoned.

"Ah, how could we forget, even MINt gives Hikari Yagami a preference," sassed Mai`Co's Nagisa playfully, voice soaked with sarcasm.

"Hey…!"

"Chill Kari-chan," "You know we're only kidding around," said Rei and Hisami, and they were right. But of course that didn't stop sixteen-year-old Hikari from trying to chip-up a smart-ass retort to stage her comeback when…

"Giiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirls!"

…when a certain pink-haired songstress squealed excitedly.

The girls turned in their stead without delay and easily spotted the anticipated, flashy trace of pink racing towards their lot with her two remaining group mates, Hanako and Akane. Hikari knowingly guessed the seventeen-year-old Gossip Queen must have discovered some believably juicy information on her way back from the restroom, though she eagerly welcomed the chance to allow a change in their discussion topic.

"Alright, what's the hype about, Meems?" Maayu queried, steadying the younger girl who had almost tackled her to the ground on her platform-heels in her flurry to reach them. Mimi thanked her, then revealing an exceptionally wide grin on her pretty face and giggled girlishly. The pink-worshipping teenager was practically jumping on the spot with her open display of bubbly-ness.

"Guess who we," she gestured to Hanako, Akane and herself, "saw heading this way!" Behind her the gestured duo were wearing similar grins and excited dispositions.

"…you're boyfriend?"

"What? No! I'm so over Michael!" "Strike one!"

"…Kari's…boyfriend?" Hisami tried. Hikari shook her head on that one. "He has practice."

"Strike two!" Hanako pronouced.

"Uh…the pizza delivery guy with our order? Though he'd be pretty early since I called like five minutes ago."

"No! No! No!" Mimi practically yelled, somewhat upset her friends were getting absolutely nowhere with this and stomped at the stage floor.

Akane slapped her palm to her forehead. "Well, that's strike three so we'll just tell you. It's-"

"Girls, to your positions, please!" _Way to cut the steam, sensei, _Hikari had to mull. But just as she and the other Sky! Project Kids had readied in their positions, put on their headset microphones, and awaited the minus-one track to be audible, the amphitheater's thick-cushioned doors buckled open and the group was treated to the sight of 'who was heading this way'—their newest addition.

**----------**

**To be continued…**

A lot to ponder upon in this chapter I believe. Thanks for reading and please review!


	6. Chapter 5::Colorful

_::Yume de Aru Youni::_

**Heard of the J-Pop group 'Buono!'? Well, I decided to 'digify' them. My first attempt at SORATO. More info inside. AU-ish.**

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**Thank You's:**

Thanks to both Dissidia-Hime and KoumiLoccness for the reviews. Glad you peeps are actually enjoying this so far. To KoumiLoccness, lol, I'd say my current updates about-once-a-week is way faster than the once-in-a-year-or-two I had to pace at in the past, wouldn't you?

**Author's Note:**

I'd say that by the end of this chapter one will probably have the basic foundations of this story in grasp. Although, those not too familiar with the actual Hello! Project groups (the RL groups) might find it a little confusing. Feel free to ask some questions if you find the need and I'll try to explain best I can.

**Information:** AU name/title : (RL name/title)

Mu$ikCa : (Morning Musume)

Mello-D! : (Buono!)

Honestly, I ain't the best at concocting up cool or cute J-group names. Well, too late to back out now! XD

**---------**

**Chapter 5 ~ Colorful**

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Following after her father, Sora placed well-threaded steps into the occupied, private amphitheater. To her findings the facility did not appear nearly as big as she had first imagined it to be. Haruhiko had mentioned the unit was quite specifically for the girls to practice their concert routines, being one of the few spacious halls in the building with a stage rooted to the floor.

He had then added that the particular amphitheater did serve another purpose of catering for occasional staff functions and perhaps one or two conferences on an annual basis. In which case, the auburn-hair concluded, the hall did its job well enough.

Looking about, there was nothing overtly fancy about the interior. The chairs were simple and adequate; comfy enough for enduring long-hours of sitting, but not to the point of effortlessly sedating a persona to sleep. The floor was laid with a removable carpet, and the walls wore thick, no-print drapes to bar excessive sounds from escaping out of the hall.

Sora noted the structure's classic slant alike that of many other existing concert halls, as well as the absence of a second level or balconies. To her individually, the amphitheater would be regarded rather bland if not for the existing busy-ness in motion near the room's front.

Leveling her gaze towards the stands of the hall's stage end Sora could just about make out the face of a certain prominent figure…

_Hiroaki Ishida,_ she reckoned—her father's right-hand man.

The auburn-hair knew she would not have acknowledged the brunette approximately a week and three days ago but after hearing the mention of his name from her father's lips on the phone numerous times and looking up some pictures off the web…well, let's just say it would be a long time to go now before she forgot the man.

Sora also noticed a bunch of other people she obviously didn't know. To sum it up—several operating the sound systems by the amphitheater's lower-left, a couple more moving boxes and other things across the hall, a bespectacled male by the stage's central steps, and even caught a glimpse of someone looming behind a pair of keyboards on the far left corner of the stage.

The auburn-hair could have sworn she had seen a hint of something unconventional about the person (whoever it was) and made to re-angle herself and stare harder to ease her curiosity. However, a thriving beat from the audio speakers formed an instant distraction and Sora allowed her ruby orbs to travel over to the stage instead, then taking in its many female occupants as they danced and sang to the audible song:

"_Seems like tonight we won't meet_

_It feels weird and lonely…"_

"Scarlet Premonition," she thought distinctly, remembering the hit single off the P!nku*Chorus CD Koushirou had (the other day) begged her to get signed.

Haruhiko nodded, delighted his daughter was familiar with the song. It would certainly make for easier future concert dealings, should she have to collaborate with the other Sky! Project groups in performance. "A perfect entrance song, wouldn't you agree?" He teased, immediately pointing at Sora's shoulder-length auburn locks.

The silver-hair giggled inwardly as his daughter retorted with a mumble that she "should have kept the hat on." She had left it along with her other belongings to rest in his personal office room, believing her need for avoiding reporters and such was over for the time.

So, hands free thanks to their short detour, Haruhiko made his way down the path of steps, prompting Sora to tail him again, which she did, eyes switching back and forth to mind her feet and the rehearsal performance.

"_Listen_

_The scarlet color of spring_

_I just can't hold myself back_

_A scarlet premonition…"_

Sora determined her conversations with Koushirou were a tremendous help. As opposed to a week ago, she could now recognize each and every Sky! Project Kid on stage and possibly (she would place her bet) name their home Sky! Project groups without having to put a strain on her memory—a pleasant improvement.

She also observed the leads of their respective home groups were the front-liners of the performance. Thus, were pretty much sharing center stage and held possession to most of the solo lines.

To the center-right was none-other than Mimi Tachikawa, Koushirou's 'dream girl' and by far the easiest to spot. What with her practically neon-pink hair, sharp porcelain features and lively personality.

Then, to the center-left danced the young brunette, Hikari Yagami, lead vocalist to the more junior Sky! Project group, Mai`Co. Sora remembered Koushirou's commending the girl's general flexibility; critics had often reviewed Hikari sang as well as she danced, which spoke for itself when one watched the lass work it on the dance floor.

True she was no Mimi who could 'wow' a crowd through appearance single-handedly but the girl was in a league all on her own, suiting the appeal of a broader audience range.

Finally, straight down center was lead vocalist for Sky! Project's forerunner group, Mu$ikCa. The one and only 'Miracle Child', Jun Motomiya. Whom Koushirou had explained a while back had earned her title for being the only girl to pass her audition into the group during her time.

It had been an incredible feat apparently and Sora had her suspicions why. Watching as the Mahogany-brown haired diva ran the stage, punkish hairstyle and all, she stood out easily amongst a sea of girls. She was…

…_really really good_.

Jun's edgy look alone made her a must-watch. She commanded listeners with grace and energy and seemed to glorify the one thing that she (Sora Suzuki) lacked—confidence. Jun made all that vigorous dancing and powerful singing look effortless, the way it was supposed to look.

And while Koushirou had nothing to say about her voice-wise there was no denying how talented a performer the diva was. Heck, everyone on that stage was amazing, and that was judging by this practice session in itself.

Sora had to admit, witnessing the lot of them sing live was a ton way more intimidating than listening to some audio CD, the radio or screening a promotional video off Youtube. Through a live performance, one could feel the real strength behind their voices and sense how accomplished the girls were despite their youth. It left the auburn-hair somewhat in doubt if she could actually match-up to their high standards.

So their sales were dropping…_why?_ It scared Sora to even think of competition…

The song lasted no more than a rough three to four minutes before the girls nailed the final sequence of their dance routine in unison to the accented finishing beat.

Sora pondered if she should have applauded or something but no such reaction was offered by the present crowd so she refrained, watching as the bespectacled man from before (she guessed was their coach of sorts) trotted up to the lot and launched comments here and there. She would have quite liked to listen but it seemed Haruhiko had other plans and directed his daughter towards two of his co-workers.

"Hiroaki Ishida, it's nice to finally meet Haru's 'it' girl," the brunette introduced, meaning his words as a friendly ice-breaker.

Sora felt a slight blush paint her cheeks at being called 'Haru's it girl' but replied with an introduction all the same and bowed politely. When she had straightened, Sora found herself face-to-face with an interestingly-purple haired female, showcasing a wide smile. She then thought back to the person behind the keyboards—purple hair, now that was unconventional alright.

"Hi, I'm MINt. Or, Miyako Inoue if you'd rather my real name."

Sora blinked in shock. She couldn't help it—the female looked to be about her age!

'This is MINt?' She wondered how Koushirou would take knowing this particular fact as Sky! Project's primary song composer's (namely MINt's) identity had been hidden from the public as well.

**~O~**

Full-song rehearsal done, it was time to settle some lingering curio.

Hikari headed over to the rim of the stage, nearer to where she could ensue to size-up this new girl with a focused mind—having seen the auburn-hair enter alongside Haruhiko, interest had gotten the better of her as the young brunette knew she had almost forgotten herself mid-song, nearly slurring one or two of her lines inappropriately. She had barely managed to save it though and was luckily spared the lashings of their deranged dance sensei.

Though official morning rehearsal was pretty much over with lunch up in a bit, Fujiama-san was still busy handing out reprimands to the unfortunate few. Hikari deduced their new arrival had somewhat fazed the larger half of Mu$ikCa's members to a certain degree for Ayano, Ame, Miho and Rina were rotating turns in receiving their scolding. Still, none so disheartening as that which had befallen P!nku*Chorus' Cho once again.

According to their resident slave-driver, the sixteen-year-old was still a displeasure to watch next to her peers and was now being subjected to torture in the form of dancing the whole routine sequence by herself to a steady set of counting.

Some of the other girls stood by cheering, knowing full-well the insane load of demand on them now thanks to their drooping statistics. And while Hikari was in no ways ignorant to their situation, she had long ago decided not to allow herself any risks of being dragged into the never-ending intolerance Fujiama held for Cho's dancing capacity…anymore.

And so, she would watch the new girl. "What do you think of her?" asked Mu$ikCa's Captain, Momoe as she approached, her younger sister Chizuru in tow.

The sisters joined Hikari and followed the young brunette's gaze towards the auburn-hair who was still in the midst of conversation with their prodigious, youngest sister.

Taking the cue to study their new addition, Hikari believed the girl was probably a year or two older than herself as she seemed somewhat mature in gait. She was fairly pretty, lean in built, predictably not a girly-girl based on her attire…

_Thank heavens…_

But what enticed Hikari about their new member was the bright-red shade of the girl's hair, as well as those eyes that seemed to sparkle the color of a ruby jewel. They were really stunning to the young dancer and Hikari couldn't help but feel a sense of envy towards what's-her-name for owning such amazing scarlet orbs—talk about Scarlet Premonition.

"…seem's a little shy," she finally said, noting the auburn-hair's well-hidden-yet-still-evident timid posture.

Chizuru opted to latch affectionately onto her eldest sister's arm. "I'm feeling a similar vibe, but if that's the case she might not last here—you can't afford to be shy when you're an S!P Kid."

"Come on, you don't seriously think that, do you?" Mimi hummed, joining the trio. "We all heard Hiro-san the other day. You know, how Haru-san was completely…spellbound by her singing!" The drama-queen voiced poetically, now holding her right hand to the sky in delicate fashion, as if she were reciting Romeo's lines to his sweet Juliet from below the balcony…

She really was a good actress.

Of course, Mimi had snapped out of 'drama mode' before the others had processed any real replies. "I can't wait to hear!" She went on elatedly. "Maybe…maybe we'll have another 'Miracle Child'!"

Jun approached the now-quartet next. "I'm the only 'Miracle Child' around here, Tachikawa," she proclaimed, obviously not pleased with Mimi's latest statement. The pink-hair made a pout of it, but it was Hikari who rose to her defense: "She didn't mean it like that, Jun."

Both brunettes seemed to hold each other's stares, neither about to back down. That is, till Jun decided it was not worth the exertion. "I'll never understand what my brother sees in you," said Miss 'Miracle Child' and stalked off to where her bag sat in the stands.

Mimi heaved a sigh. "Let me guess, she's still sore about Matt dumping her, isn't she?" The other three simply nodded, oddly in sync with one another as they watched Jun's retreating back.

Hikari chose to switch her gaze back to the new girl, then realizing the auburn-hair was now accompanying MINt by the keyboards, Haruhiko and Hiroaki in the nearest seats facing the twosome.

"Hey, think we can get closer?" And just like that the energy circulating through the universe seemed to grant their one wish as the silver-hair noticed the quartet and their inner debate, waving them over.

Meanwhile, Miyako took her seat behind one of the keyboards and fanned out the pages of a score sheet Sora had presented to her not long before. She sight-read briefly, bearing in mind the song's key signature and tempo for the most part, eventually nodding in approval. "This is well-written," she stated, sounding quite impressed. "Did you write it yourself?"

Sora shook her head hurriedly, fingering the microphone she'd been given in between her hands. "A friend of mine back home was really into writing songs and stuff, he'd be glad to know you think so." Sora then made a mental note to inform Koushirou.

Miyako smiled consciously—it was always uplifting and great motivation when someone appreciated the songs she had poured heart and soul into.

Miyako's smile soon transformed into a broad smirk upon sighting her sister's eyes on her, noticing that they (along with Hikari and Mimi) were coming towards them. Sora traced the purple-hair's gaze and took notice too, though could only feel her nerves loop on her with a vengeance, something that surely did not elude the awareness of some others.

"It's alright to feel nervous at the beginning," the song-producer offered kindly. "Though from what Haru-san tells me you should have nothing to worry about. Don't concern yourself with impressing anyone—just give it your best shot."

The auburn-hair curled a stray strand of scarlet behind her ear and managed a somewhat jumpy nod.

From his seat, Haruhiko eyed his daughter conspicuously, hoping she would not succumb to having so much attention aimed at at her. She caught him staring and swiftly looked the other way, then guilt-ridden, chastised herself discreetly for conducting such a cowardly gesture.

Nonetheless, fight and flight were waging war within her and inner peace seemed so far a distance.

Sora forced on thoughts of her mother. She had to remember why she was doing this…

"I'm ready," she said, facing the front and taking a deep breath to help quiet her nerves, if even a little. From the stands her father smiled and nodded encouragingly to her, Sora smiled back, albeit weak.

She took one last glance at the score titled 'Over the Rainbow' and steadied herself as the soft strings and moderate-paced beat rang aloud, then consenting her voice to harmonize ceremoniously with that of the instrument's upon the short intro's end:

"_I always search for the sky after the rain_

_Because in a sky free of clouds,_

_Hope is overflowing…"_

Heads turned, jaws dropped, people stopped to look and listen, all on the first note sung. Not a soul in the room could help but be enthralled by the gentle, angelic transparency Sora's voice possessed.

Even Fujiama-san was absorbed by the spell of her voice into abandoning his counting mid-ways, causing Cho to pause her dancing as well. Poor Miyako had to remember she was supplying the music and thanked her finger-memory skills to keep playing no matter what till the end of a melody.

Haruhiko was pleased. He had already heard Sora sing once before but still had to fight his amazement with her extraordinary gift.

Watching the girl sing was like watching a miracle of the highest caliber assume before his very eyes; one a person could only trust to witness perhaps once or twice in a lifetime. He intentionally nudged his partner in the ribs. "Tell Yamato and his Wolves to run for cover," he disclosed. Hiroaki laughingly complied. "With pleasure."

"_The other side of the rainbow_

_A world I've never seen_

_I'll go with you to a place where there is love_

_Though I don't know what awaits us_

_We're always lookin' for the rainbow in the sky…"_

And then, almost as soon as it had commenced, the song came to an end. Sora permitted her vocals to fade along with the sounds of the keyboard. Relief consumed her every being and she felt her legs give way beneath her, likely from the intense anxiety she had tried so hard to suppress throughout the song.

"Sora?" Miyako asked, a little alarmed by the auburn-hair's reaction. "F-Fine," Sora all but squeaked.

Seconds drifted by before a vigorous, singular clapping was heard. Sora looked to its source, finding a certain, excited pink-haired female kneeling beside her.

"That. Was. Dope!" Mimi yelled, practically ramming right into her and hug-crushing her on the spot prior to sprinting into a series of rushed compliments about the singing.

Seeing Sora's alarmed and bordering on having-a-heart-attack state, Hikari immediately grabbed a hold of Mimi and tried (rather harshly) to drag the drama-queen away from the aghast newcomer in hopes of letting her have a chance to calm down. Though Mimi's stubborn resisting resulted in the scene turning into a pretty ridiculous comical display.

"Let go, Kari! That's a model's hair you're damaging!" "Ow!"

"Forget the hair, Mimi you're scaring our new recruit!"

"Alright you two, break it up." Hiroaki interjected, it was just about lunch time and the amphitheater needed to be vacated. "You two will have to get along civilly if you're going to be grouped together."

_Grouped together…_"What?"

The statement was more than enough to have both girls stop the comedy, leaving them in an awkward pose with Hikari pulling on one of Mimi's arms while the later had her free hand thrust straight at the younger girl's face. Sora fortunately, had successfully wormed out of the pink-hair's hug attack and was now standing by her father, taking her time in ridding the near-overwhelming anxiety.

Hiroaki grinned from ear to ear. "You heard me. Kari, Mimi, you'll be joining Sora here," he continued, gesturing to the auburn-hair, "in Sky! Project's new sub-group unit—Mello-D!"

**----------**

**To be continued…**

**Songs:** title : (artist[s])

Scarlet Premonition/Munasawagi Scarlet : (Berryz Koubou)

Over the Rainbow : (Buono!)

Credits go to _momocore(dot)blogspot(dot)com_ for translation lyrics to 'Over the Rainbow'.

Kay peeps, thanks for reading (if you did) and please leave a review if you like the chapter.


	7. Chapter 6::Tokyo Days

_::Yume de Aru Youni::_

**Heard of the J-Pop group 'Buono!'? Well, I decided to 'digify' them. My first attempt at SORATO. More into inside. AU-ish. **

Am beginning to think I need a better short summery but nothing comes to mind...

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**Thank You's:**

'Thank You' hugs and kisses go out to the reviewers: KoumiLoccness, winta-skies, and DigiDigiMonMon. To the former, some KOUMI should appear soon and to the latter, I'm glad you decided to actually check out the songs and am thrilled that you liked them.

**Author's Note:**

*scratches the back of her head uncertainly*

Okay, truth be told—I have no idea what to make of this chapter. Being honest it was a complete puzzlement to write. It could be really good, or really bad, though frankly I have no opinion of it except for that it is absolutely necessary for this story's continuation.

Um…enjoy? o_O

**Information:**

'My Guardian Characters', the anime mentioned below, is really just another name for 'Shugo Chara!'. Buono!'s singles are also used as Shugo Chara! themes so that's why I decided to go with it.

**----------**

**Chapter 6 ~ Tokyo Days**

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_Should one look to the sky, what would be visible then was an endless, crystal blue blanket – on a nice and warm, sunny summer's day – littered with fluffy, dollops of white forming wispy patches in the beautiful oceanic layer._

_Hundreds of miles below, on graciously-green grass, a young individual with short locks the shade of the fiery orange sun dribbled a black-and-white dappled ball with expert feet; all the while exulting skill bemusedly advanced for one at such an ostensibly tender age. Further to mention, the individual was a girl._

_The young soccer activist sped keenly across the field's lush green, paving gracefully (yet robustly) over the earth's gentle curvature with the dappled ball retained in her possession. Small lips puckered into a wide grin as she glimpsed the huge, ground-netted basket of sorts up ahead; the bulls-eye target for her soon-to-be angled kick—her winning kick._

_She dashed at top speed, she was going to make it, she was almost there!_

_But just as the young soccer princess was about to swing her foot hard against the dappled ball, a tall figure materialized perpendicular to her form, becoming a wall between her and her goal._

_Whoever it was casted an impish smirk down at her. "Didn't think it would be easy, did you?" A laugh._

_The young girl's instinctive reaction was to halt the ball with the heel of her foot. She in turn let her eyes find their way to those of the figure's towering above her, permitting innocent scarlet orbs to smile up at her supposed obstacle, exuding nothing but that of conviction and sheer fortitude—the fire in her eyes, blazing as hot as the summer sun's vicious rays._

_Said figure appeared taken aback, doubt distorting his expression. Still, he refused to give in but the young one saw her chance; she took it—swerving swiftly around her assailant and surveyed vividly as the dappled, round object collided heartily with the ground-basket's netting._

"_Score!" She yelled, jubilant. She began springing up and down on the lush green before twirling on the spot to laugh at the figure for his los-_

"_Where are you going?" She asked diffidently, then watching as her father bowed away from her and began walking._

_She waited, but he did not answer. "Hey, wait up!" The young individual made to run after him but found herself unable to leave her position—someone had taken a hold of her right hand, keeping her from him. She spun around hastily to see who it was; expression a loss upon realizing it was her own mother._

"_Mom, what?" She croaked in disbelief. Her eyes began to tear, conviction spent, insecurity and desperation coursing strongly through her veins in its place._

_But just as she turned to call out to the distancing figure one last time, the crystal sky faded, swallowed up by dark clouds; the warm summer breeze was no more, substituted with that of bone-chilling cold and a rough howling wind; the grass lost its green, morphing into a deadened land: ice…snow…and the wrenching cold…_

"_Wait!" She cried, vanishing thoughts of soccer from her mind, all the while trying furiously to shake her hand free of her mother's vice-grip. "Dad!"_

_The cold howling wind stung her eyes, freezing the embers within them into flame-colored jewels (rubies) and tears threatened to stream, jointly assisting the snow and sinister grey clouds in blurring her vision of the man._

_On and on she called, but still the figure walked, further and further to where she could no longer reach out to him. It was then when she had come to grasp of a fear; a fear of how truly powerless her voice could be…_

_Her world went black. "Stop turning your back on…me."_

~O~

In one of the headquarters many dance studios, Sora proceeded to pack her bag, taking her time in stuffing her belongings into the indigo sports duffel as she hummed a tune discreetly for her ears alone—the tune to their (Kari, Mimi and her self's) group's future debut single.

Continuing to arrange her possessions one by one in the duffel, the auburn-hair began to ponder. A lot had happened subsequent her evaluation with MINt the other day in the amphitheater. Overall, she discerned the experience so far had been entertaining, though every bit as tiring.

Sure Sora had anticipated the hard work she would have to put in. The extensive craziness however, now that was new.

As things stood now, Hikari and Mimi – lead vocalists to their respective Sky! Project home groups, Mai`Co and P!nku*Chorus – as well as herself had been assembled to form the project's latest sub-unit, Mello-D!

To Sora, the line-up had come both as a bit of a shock and relief. After all, her father's initial proposition had consisted of her flying solo—an idea that had quite literally petrified her to no end when she had first lent ear to it (and still did).

And so, while she still dreaded the thought of having to sing in front of a large, live audience come the project's upcoming concert, Sky! Project 2009 ~ Thank you for your LOVE!, Sora was eternally grateful to the silver-hair and his brunette partner in crime for casting her as part of a three-piece. There was just something so consoling in knowing she would not be forced to face the audience alone when time came.

At least a week had passed since that faithful day in the amphitheater and the auburn-hair had spent the near entirety of it getting settled with all going on about her. As staying with her father proved to be out of the question—given they were to keep their father-daughter relationship secret, Haruhiko had made up for it by allocating her a rather convenient apartment situated within walking distance to headquarters; paying for it and pretty much any and all of her various living expenses.

To her surprise her father had even personally taken on the task of showing her around Odaiba for the first couple of days and helped with her enrollment into a local school, which turned out to be the exact same one her group mate Mimi was attending. The pink-hair had been ecstatic to learn this of course and had immediately beckoned Sora to join her class; that request…somehow ending up being the way of things…

Sora had learnt then, just how persuasive Mimi Tachikawa could be.

Still, her concern was for her father. Sora felt it a large stretch for him in some ways—he really was doing a whole lot for her. What if others grew suspicious? But Haruhiko had justified that he was merely fulfilling the responsibility for having dragged her away from her life back in Okinawa on such sudden notice.

Strangely enough, people lapped it up.

At any rate, school and managing a living all on her own was taking quite enough time as it was, but with the concert less than a month away, there were (undoubtedly) the many Sky! Project duties to attend to—and boy were those duties hectic.

Together, she and her two group mates had sat down to work with various people; namely MINt, Fujiama-san, and the trio Sora found exponentially draining to deal with, the notorious SK2—an invented abbreviation for none-other than Satoe and Keisuke Tachikawa (indeed, Mimi's fashion designer slash stylist of a mother and her creative director slash fashion photographer of a father respectively), plus the man's young apprentice, one Ken Ichijouji.

It did not take long at all for Sora to figure out from whom Mimi had inherited her bubble-ish charm.

Keisuke and Ken she decided, were tolerable any day; what with Ken being somewhat of an introvert in temperament. However, Mimi's mom, Satoe…was a whole different story. The auburn-hair puzzled how Hikari faired through such encounters.

Tersely, their debut single had been composed, lines distributed and arranged for recording; a dance routine to match had been choreographed and was in the process of being learnt; clothes (or costumes) designed, measurements taken, etc. Sora had even found herself getting a haircut as Satoe felt she needed a fresher look.

"Wow," was the one word Sora could push past her lips to that end result. Hikari and Mimi had agreed.

The auburn-hair guessed photo-shoots and the making of a promotional video would soon follow as the song was scheduled to be the opening theme for an imminent anime program set to air on Fuji TV, 'My Guardian Characters'. Of course, this was riding on just how well-received their single would be in the project's upcoming concert—joy, what pressure.

Sora let out a sigh, done with her humming. The girl made to look up momentarily as she packed the last of her possessions—a hand-me-down Ipod Mimi had offered her the other day; given partially as a gift for inviting Koushirou to the upcoming concert.

Long story short, the pink-hair had been amiably euphoric over the song 'Over the Rainbow' during Sora's evaluation. As such, Mimi had asked everything she could under the sun about said song and Sora was forced to bless the pink-hair with answers as best she could, obviously leading to her mentioning her red-headed best friend back home.

Sora had then proffered up Koushirou's CD for Mimi to lay her signature on and minutely after, relented to call the boy genius (courtesy of Mimi's…persuasion) and invite him over.

Mimi (being her drama queen-self of course), had at one point snatched the mobile away from Sora and began ranting compliments into the device's speaker, only to find no reply from the other end when she had finished. The auburn-hair had taken the phone back at that point and queried Koushirou if he were still alive, earning her a kind of staggered grunt to which she took to be a positive response.

Hikari had dropped to the floor, rolling with hysterical laughter by the time Sora ended the call, stuttering something about how that would always happen whenever boys talked to Mimi over the phone for the first time.

At present, Sora's newly-formed group mates were still dancing opposite the studio's wall mirrors along to the tune she had earlier been humming, though in this case the tune's origins was that of the sound system in the far corner of the room, currently operated by one of Hiroaki's supposed errand boys, Charlie. Their dance instructor, Fujiama remained nearby, coaching their steps and pointing out any mistakes.

The two girls were sweating furiously by now, having already danced over an hour, though with water breaks at each twenty minute interval to avoid dehydration. Sora on the other hand, while had endured pretty much the same feat was now clad in fresh clothes, adorned after a brief shower and was ever-ready to take her leave—an action she reckoned herself more than happy to do.

Oh no, it wasn't so much that Sora detested dancing or was bad at it. On the contrary, growing up with a love for sports and having played a few in her years, she quite liked the idea of grooving along to the beat of a nice melody.

MINt's composition was rather up-tempo (a request from Hikari) and was thus, tons of fun to move to. And so her good muscle coordination had saved her additional embarrassment of being scrutinized by Fujiama, who was already relieved by the fact that she was attesting to be an easier student than Cho.

Nevertheless, nothing could stop Fujiama's austerity in his teachings. More than a few times past had he pointed out numerous mistakes on Sora's part, more so than either Hikari's or Mimi's as the duo were by far more senior than the auburn-hair and evidently very seasoned dancers whom could pick up moves fast and with ease.

Hikari – Sora noted – had practically mastered the whole routine before their first water break and hadn't made a single mistake since.

_Prodigious_, she thought, knowing what Koushirou would say.

Unlike the other two, Sora found herself forgetting her steps a little too often for her liking and had more than once mixed-up her position during a formation switch.

Not yet accustomed to the insatiable demands of being a Sky! Project Kid, the auburn-hair also found lessons incredibly exhausting. And while she held the utmost respect for Fujiama-san's choreography – though a tad girlish in her opinion, a fault of Mimi's – and teachings, she could not help but hate how he could repeatedly succeed in sucking out the fun of the whole thing with all that shouting and the negative remarks.

Since when did dance lessons seem so alike to the military?

This was no joke. Sora wondered how the other two managed. After all, she got away with much less to deal with than either one of them—only being tied down to one Sky! Project group for the moment; as were the majority of Sky! Project Kids she had gotten herself formally acquainted with the week before.

"It's worth it," Hikari had told her when she asked. "You'll see." She sure hoped so.

Of course, Hikari and Mimi were in no ways the only two presently involved with a sub-unit group besides their home ones. Some of the others included P!nku*Chorus' and Mai`Co's captains, Maayu and Tomoka respectively, forming a duet, Jun who was apparently also a solo artist; as was Cho who as a solo act was spared the worry over her below-par dancing.

"Leaving already, Sora?" Asked the young brunette.

"Yeah," she humbly replied. Mello-D dance practice session was over for the day but Hikari and Mimi were still entitled to another hour of rehearsal with their home groups shortly, before they could leave as well.

Sora quite sympathized with them. After all, it was because of her that they were being made to do all this extra work—even if it was stated that the unit could easily be dissolved in a matter of seconds should it fail to pull in the crowds in the forthcoming concert.

The auburn-hair had opted to profusely apologize to both girls on the matter but they had astonished her by waving her apology aside, instead expressing delight at having such a vocally-accomplished (or so they deemed) member to work with.

Hikari and Mimi had even further agreed that it was a good opportunity, having the chance to work with not only someone of Sora's capacity but with each other on some original material, technically hailing from separate groups.

Sora smiled, bushed but appreciative. "Thank you very much for today," she recited, bowing her thanks to Fujiama and Charlie before walking out the door with a friendly-joke-of-a-blow-kiss to her two famous-yet-surprisingly-down-to-earth (perhaps in Hikari's case) new friends. Both instantly laughing at the playful banter and waved back.

The auburn-hair had made it to the lifts before busying her thoughts with that of how even crazier and more frenzied her life would probably be after the concert, patiently waiting for one to reach her floor.

Little did she know, just how much of an understatement that would soon turn out to be…

It wasn't long till the doors clinked open but when they did, Sora somehow found the option of walking into the compartment…dissipate in the flash of a moment. Instant shock and pain besieged her as she mentally struggled to comprehend how exactly she had ended up pinned to the carpeted floor on her back with some guy pressed right on top of her laying form.

_Ouch…_ she thought, then finding her human-compressor articulating the same thought aloud. He made to push off of her but sure as hell did not get very far when their eyes met, flare-fired rubies with water-cooled ceruleans…

The gaze lingered. It was a strange sensation.

Sora sensed her breath hitch in her throat as she held this stranger's gaze, his face no more than a short-ruler's distance away from her own.

Some inner part of her must have rang the warning bell for her the severe the stare but those ceruleans seemed to have some sort of power over her, paralyzing each and every muscle in her body and gluing her limbs to the floor. It was strange but she just…wanted to keep staring straight into those hypnotizing pools of blue that reminded her so much of the crystalline sky on a hot summer's day.

It took awhile before she noticed yet another interesting feature of his—blonde hair that looked to be…his natural shade?

Likewise as he continued to stare right into amazing ruby orbs, the blonde could not help but be entranced, not wanting to look away. The girl was really pretty, or so he thought.

Soon it had become impossible to ignore the furious blush steadily inching its way up his cheeks as the situation dawned upon him, not to mention the rather blatantly compromising position they were in. Realization likely coming to her as well, he noted she was blushing too, cheeks flushed red, almost as red as…her hair?

The blonde's eyes went wide. He knew in all aspects of mannerisms he was failing miserably and should have pushed off of her by now and voiced a patent apology. Yet instead, he found himself asking a question.

"Hey, are you…Sora?"

**----------**

**To be continued…**

Gosh, I hope things didn't get too confusing for people. Questions are still acceptable if anyone has any. Ah, and the concert name used in the chapter is truly a slight modification on the name of an actual Hello! Project concert held some time ago. As to the first part of the chapter in _italics_, take it as something of a dream-flashback sort of thing.

I'd really like to know what you readers think of this chapter, a little more so than the previous few as I found this one…seriously weird? Till next time then.


	8. Chapter 7::HEARTBEAT

_::Yume de Aru Youni::_

**Heard of the J-Pop group 'Buono!'? Well, I decided to 'digify' them. My first attempt at SORATO. More info inside. AU-ish.**

**----------**

**Thank You's:**

Of course, where would I be without this story's readers and reviewers? Heart-filled thanks' go out to KoumiLoccness, typoqueenofdoomXD (am still insanely digging the Username), and Yamora Love n Friendship. Thanks so much guys! I know the cliffhanger was a tad evil – I blame Nixie the Water Mage (if I may XP) – for it because she instills evil within me. Lol. And now she'll probably try to 'glomp' me.

**Author's Notes:**

Okay, I must be suffering from writer's block lately cause even this chapter turned out a hard one to pan out (*sighs* then again, there were just too many ways I could twist and turn this chapter and ended up struggling to decide which way I was going to do it—you can imagine my endless rewrites).

Ah well, special thanks to Nixie the Water Mage for trying to snap me out of my writer's block, though only future reviews on this chapter will be any indication if she was successful or not.

Also, regrettably, my time away from campus has drawn pretty much to a close, which means that this story's progression will be forced to slow down to a certain extent now. Boohoo! *bawls*

**~O~**

To the great Hollywood Icons, the late Farrah Fawcett and the all-reigning 'King of Pop', Michael Jackson, your undying legacies will live on forever in our hearts.

**----------**

**Chapter 7 ~ HEARTBEAT**

**----------**

_What?_ Sora felt her mind flood with confusion. She had heard his voice, heard his words, but as to registering whatever meaning lay behind them, that was sure taking an unexpectedly extended amount of time; not to mention, proving to be a rather arduous task, what with her current wayward train of thought.

Straining her mental aptitude, the auburn-hair drudgingly pieced the vocabulary together in due course: "Hey, are you…Sora?"

_How…?_ But even her thoughts trailed off, blind as to where a connection was liable. As far as Sora knew, her list of acquaintances was positively deficient of any attractive blonde males…

_…with dazzling blue eyes_, she added to herself. Her gaze remained fixed on his trance-inducing cerulean pools.

Blonde hair and blue eyes, features characteristically uncommon enough in this part of the world—was the guy even Japanese? And so surfaced a staggering rush of internal questions within Sora's person, her own eyes silently pleading for answers.

The blonde must have surely read some of her queries through his locking his gaze with her own, finally professing his river of apologies and consequently made to relieve her of his weight. He then helped the auburn-hair to her feet, proffering a bashful smile as embarrassing thoughts of destiny's choice method to have them meet replayed heatedly in his cranium—a new memory he could now not be sure if was best forgotten or otherwise…

Nonetheless, he doubted the likelihood of forgetting this explicit incident any time too soon.

"I'm really sorry about…you know…" The blonde repeated, nervously adjusting the fishnet cap on his head.

Sora straightened herself out as well, brushing invisible dirt off the front of her clothes with mildly shaking hands and slinging her duffel back onto her right shoulder without too much pointless fiddling. She was nervous about the incident too, but as always, tried excessively to veil her insecurities from others, even if the blonde before her did seem to have a certain trustworthy feel to his temperament.

Sora was just about to advise him that it was alright when the recognizable clink of a lift arriving at their floor sounded audibly, alerting both present to a trio of newcomers as the metallic doors slid apart.

"TK!" Chizuru greeted boisterously, being first out of the lift compartment, closely followed by her eldest sister, Momoe and their group's principal starlet, Jun. Sora guessed all three Mu$ikCa members were likely heading for dance practice.

The middle Inoue proceeded to pat the tall blonde on the head gruffly, then snatching his ashen-white fishnet cap off and ruffling the boy's golden locks as if she were his biological older sister. The playful display prodded a slight stir of laughter from Momoe and the hint of a giggle from Jun.

Witnessing this, Sora deduced the blonde, TK (if that truly was his name) was observably on very familiar terms with the other Sky! Project Kids. For a second time her curiosity climbed, having been indirectly reminded she was still somewhat out of the loop and wondered who he was to them.

At long last Chizuru handed TK back his hat. "Running a little late this time, aren't you Teeks?"

"Ah, must be since he met our latest addition," teased the sisters, well aware the auburn-hair had been there with the blonde before their modest intrusion, regardless of having only properly acknowledged her presence just then. The confirmation thrilled the blonde, remembering Sora had yet to respond to his earlier inquiry.

Four pairs of eyes darted in the auburn-hair's direction upon Momoe's referencing, unsettling her quite a bit—she really had to get over all this.

Though not distinctively evident, Sora's loss for words gave her away. The Inoue sisters took the moment of discovery to exchange knowing looks, Jun cleanly glanced elsewhere. If not for his being clued-in on her shy nature ahead of time, TK might have been a bit affronted. Instead, now he only took sympathy towards her, though in the deeper corners of his mind heavens knew why a girl who crumbled under attention would want to be part of Sky! Project.

_She must have her reasons,_ he presumed, opting it was not in his place to meddle.

The blonde put on a warm smile, offering a hand out for her to shake. "Sorry I haven't introduced myself. Name's Takeru Takaishi, but everyone just calls me 'TK' for short." To his relief, Sora accepted the friendly gesture – though faintly cautious – and re-introduced herself by her full name, Sora Suzuki.

Hearing her voice for the first time, Takeru felt his smile broaden, though masterfully ensured the expression remained non-perceptible to the others.

Feeling her hand apply the soft pressure it did to his own in that short handshake had somehow awakened a sort of dormant six-sense within him; it was practically unexplainable how but he knew—he knew that she was the girl who was going to change everything, that she was the girl indeed destined for the greatness of stardom…that she was the girl who would eventually break the mighty wolf's icy barriers…

Yes, Takeru "TK" Takaishi was pretty confident of his hunch. Or maybe it was…an angelic intuition?

_Gosh she's pretty_.

The blonde puffed inwardly. It was almost too bad that he was already involved in a very budding relationship with his childhood best-friend and love-of-his-life, Hikari Yagami (almost—but not quite), who was also his liaison to all things Sky! Project, including the line-up's recent addition of an auburn-haired female one year his senior. Still…

Takeru's smile morphed into one of a more sheepish implication. "Sora, do you have a boyfriend?" He had his reasons too.

Gazes switched sharply from her to him, but the blonde kept his own firmly on the sole auburn-hair. Momoe and Chizuru gasped at his tactless exhibition while Sora failed to impede the skin of her face from coloring the shade of a bright, cherry tomato. Even Jun had jerked her head at him in abrupt shock, all stunned by the blonde's asking the new girl such a personal question.

A quiet ensued, and as usual it was Chizuru who found her voice earliest, though realized the need to jostle the teenage blonde all the same to get her reproof across. "T-Teeks!" (Shove) "What on Earth are you thinking?" (Shove).

"Ow, hey!"

"Hitting on an older woman when you're already-seeing-Kari!" (Triple shove).

"I'm not!"

"WHAT?!" Exclaimed the two Inoues, mistaking his reply and immediately dragging the younger male aside to – as they put it – "bash some morals" into him.

Sora could only stare on, stupefied by the squabbling trio. Jun on the other hand, (after some quantity of deliberation) seemed to have fairly comprehended what Takeru was in fact trying to get at—for him to have so forwardly asked Sora such a thing.

Frankly, she knew the young blonde had been up to it for a while now though she had reserved her personal opinions on the matter to herself. Of course Jun realized she could not pin fault against him as he was after all doing what he thought was best by private judgment. But while she recognized the motivation behind Takeru's intentions, honestly…it still hurt.

The brunette pushed on the 'down' button forcefully, stealing Sora's attention.

Jun was not particularly fond of the younger girl and had made it rather clear over the past week, visibly ignoring or avoiding the auburn-hair whenever the alternative was made available to her. And yet, at the same time she was not a person so rude as to voice her open dislike for the other and nor could she afford to; instead choosing to remain reasonably cordial in her dealings with Sora for the sake of their positions as Sky! Project Kids.

"Listen, Takeru is Hiroaki's son," she began, keeping her tone low so the other three were deaf to her words.

Sora's lips curved in attempt to speak up but the 'Miracle Child' raised her hand to quell the other girl's want to ask the obvious question. "You know Hiro-san is divorced. Takeru lives with his mother, a reporter by the name of Nancy Takaishi; hence his use of her family name."

"…I see," Sora replied, giving Jun's words leave to sink in. Part of her distrusted as to why the brunette was telling her all this, though on the other hand, she quite appreciated the sanction of answers. Perhaps the brunette had noticed her inner turmoil and thought to reduce the drawn out mystification? Then again, Jun Motomiya, while constantly performed with a gracious smile on her face when rocking the stage, had been oddly cold towards her since day one; thus, Sora found herself wary of the other female.

Hikari had stiffly classified Jun's various conduct as pure jealousy from early on. Mimi however, had telltale-ly added that the brunette's less-than-friendly behavior was likely the fallout of her experiencing an extremely, painfully-public break-up some months ago…

"She wasn't always like that," were Mimi's exact words.

Apparently, the relationship's end had made headlines back when the news was still fresh, though Sora could hardly remember anything besides the ex-boyfriend being a lead singer to some rock band. If only she had paid more attention to Koushirou's Sky! Project ramblings…

The auburn-hair feasted her eyes on Takeru once more, the blonde still feverishly trying to explain himself to Momoe and Chizuru, though they had calmed down a little by now.

"Why…are you telling me this?" She asked Jun, slow to see the linkage without the understanding of certain details.

The diva merely shrugged. Sora was hardly knowledgeable of happenings in the Music and Entertainment scene, something the auburn-hair would need to change about herself urgently.

Jun made to clarify her insinuations. "Hiroaki Ishida has two sons—Takeru, and his older brother, Yamato. Takeru lives with their mother while his brother lives with their father," she pointed.

But it was here when Jun sighed; reflective, and seemingly pained. It was a while before she continued her account.

Jun pierced Sora with her eyes. "I used to date Yamato Ishida—lead singer and bass guitarist to the Tokyo Wolves, our project's main rival on the charts." Now this caught the auburn-hair indefinitely by surprise, and for the instant of a moment she felt sorry for the brunette idol.

"He is…as famous as hell," she went on, suddenly sounding spiteful. "But fame puts a damper on a lot of things," Jun warned.

"Him and I didn't end well. And I'll bet you anything TK," she gestured discreetly to the blonde teenager, "-is really trying to find out if you're single so he can introduce the two of you, hoping you and his Rock Star brother will somehow hit it off."

"…I," Well that had sure been a real mouth full to swallow. The brunette folded her arms, apprehensive.

"A girl can't be her normal self in a relationship with him," she divulged. "Yamato has one massive-insane following of rabid fangirls. Then there's the media with their silly concoction of stories…"

"Cameras everywhere, crazy rumors, and people literally trying to tear a girl to shreds. It can 'destroy' you, or anyone for that matter," Jun stressed. "Look Sora, you obviously don't handle the whole 'all eyes on me' thing very well and fact is, Yamato is precisely the guy you'd want to stay away from to avoid such overwhelming attention, even if he is amazing."

Just when Sora imagined Jun had so much more to say, the lift's familiar clinking was heard yet once more and the metal doors bowed open, revealing an empty compartment.

"Say you're taken," came a final, hissed-whisper.

And just like that Sora watched conscientiously as Sky! Project's lone 'Miracle Child' turned away from her and disappeared beyond the corridor's end, but not before the two Inoues caught a glimpse of her leaving, immediately forsaking their nearly-settled row with Takeru and begun the chase after her.

"Hey! Jun, wait for us!" One of them called, Sora did not note who. She was still striving to reel from that truck-load of information the brunette had saw fit to dump on her head.

There was no denying Sora felt completely ill at ease now. At first, she had been skeptical of whether to place any trust in Jun's words but there were just too many things about the brunette's narrative that seemed incapable of simply being make-believe. Moreover, Jun's tone had seemed sincere. The part about the Tokyo Wolves being intensely famous was true, that Sora was convinced—just about everyone working for the project had told her as much. And if so, so could everything else…the cameras, the tabloids and the possible rumors, the 'people literally trying to tear a girl to shreds'…

Sora quivered at the notion. To think she was already having enough difficulty getting on stage in front of a large crowd.

"Um, Sora?" Takeru asked, concern etching his unique features as she snapped a bewildered glance at the again-closing lift doors.

Her openly tense demeanor had begun to worry him a little; the dazed look she had on half a second ago however was disturbing.

"I…sorry," Sora replied, absentmindedly daring a look up at the blonde's face before realization got the better of her and she knew she was trapped; lost in the sea of his ethereal, cerulean gaze.

No rightful amount of surmise would have permitted Sora a sensible understanding as to why she had released her next statement.

"Jun told me to say I'm taken-"

"She, oh?"

Wide-eyed, the blonde had to admit he had been taken aback by her reply, although it wasn't long before his features relaxed to an amused grin, studying keenly as a fiery blush of apprehension claimed her.

Takeru didn't know if it was the way she had said those words or the actual utterance of them in itself that truthfully amused him more. Well, he didn't even care. All that mattered was the fact that he now had the answer to his second question—apparently, Sora Suzuki was very much single.

The blonde let a light laugh escape past his lips to kill the tension. So it would appear Miss 'Miracle Child' had seen through him. _No matter_, Takeru decided. After all, the forces had surprisingly acted in his favor. Corny yes, but now it was official, Takeru "TK" Takaishi was a believer in the workings of destiny.

"I should go," he spoke, filling the short verbal void. "Kari never hesitates to skin me alive if I keep her waiting too long."

With a courteous excusal, Takeru withdrew away from the auburn-hair and padded merrily down the narrow walkway, making his way towards the specific dance studio he knew oh-so-well his pro-dancer-of-a-girlfriend would be occupying. He grinned happily to himself, satisfied with his apparent achievement and no doubt itching to share the news with Hikari.

As the blonde took his leave, Sora could do nothing but watch his retreating figure till he turned at the bend, very painfully aware of the personal detail she had so mistakenly-easy let slip. She stood there in suppressed disbelief before finally catching the next lift, leaning against the compartment's far wall once inside to wait out the slow descend of floors.

At length, the auburn-hair heaved a prolonged sigh into her hands. She had practically confessed her relationship status to a total stranger, just because he happened to be physically attractive—_darn those blue eyes!_

Oh how her gut was berating her. A vigilant sense of warning seemed to prowl the evening air, threatening to heighten the crazy-ness in her present living to a whole other level.

Doing the only thing she could think of, Sora pulled out her mobile, feeling the need to talk to someone about all this.

**----------**

**To be continued…**

*Sighs* I must admit that certain things I wanted to portray in this chapter had me seriously baffled on how it would be best to portray them. Jun's dialogue was especially hard to configure because there was a lot I was trying to get across through it. I hope I was at least 'somewhat' successful. Either way, let me know.

**Had To Share:**

I watched the movie 'Legally Blonde' the other day and for some reason it got me thinking: wouldn't it be interesting to 'digify' that movie? You know, a MICHI/KOUMI perhaps? Heck I think it'd be just as fun to put Mimi in Rebecca's shoes from 'Confessions of a Shopaholic' or have Sora as Jane in '27 Dresses'…unless either of these have been done before (in which case I've missed them XP).

Yes people, I will understand if any of you think I'm crazy. Actually, that's hardly a bad thing.

Anyways, I highly doubt I'll work anything out of those ideas. I just don't think I have it in me to do a character like Mimi's justice. Besides, those stories are brilliant pieces and I'd rather not risk ruining them. If anyone else out there feels up to the challenge though, by all means—go for it!


	9. Chapter 8::Brand New World

_::Yume de Aru Youni::_

**Heard of the J-Pop group 'Buono!'? Well, I decided to 'digify' them. My first attempt at SORATO. More info inside. AU-ish.**

**----------**

**Thank You's:**

Well, what can I say, I'm really thankful for the amount of reviews for the last chapter–five! More than one or two! Heh, am truly, humbly, grateful and blessed. So big thanks goes out to them all, Dissidia-Hime, KoumiLoccness, typoqueenofdoomXD, Kirae-Remi and (last but certainly not least) Karush.

Please keep R&R-ing everyone!

**Author's Note (formally changed to 'rant' starting here on out~):**

Alright people, first thing's first—I'm incredibly sorry for the extended delay. As one can imagine, moving (I guess you can call it that) is no easy business. It's a lot of hard work, time, stress, energy, etc. I was pretty physically drained for a while when I first shipped off to Australia to further tertiary studies (yes, that is what I am doing). Settling down took some time, not to mention tons of running around buying this and that; took at least a week before I could set up internet connection thanks to some issues with it. And then of course I had my mom with me for the first month which quite halted any fanfiction-writing progress (*sighs*).

Anyways, since my last chapter, I am proud to say I have now watched Shugo Chara! (the anime), haha! (Thanks go to Kirae-Remi for getting me curious and bothered enough to do so—thanks!!).

Also, Buono! Has released their latest single, 'Take it Easy!', featuring my favorite member (voice wise) down center—it's about time! The song has a nice 'summer-y' feel and is quite different from their previous singles if I do say so myself. Worth the checking out for anyone interested—note, it is advisable if you're planning to read on with this here fic (lol).

Finally, I would just like to point out that Nixie the Water Mage really did 'glomp' me after reading that last chapter, heh. Well, no more delays, thanks for putting up with it. And now, HERE WE GO!!!

**----------**

**Chapter 6 ~ Brand New World**

**----------**

Koushirou dipped his gaze down to the flight of stairs before him and travelled it till the sounds of above hazed and muffled faintly away, then finding himself in a quieted, behind-the-scenes corridor.

The red-head sighed, feeling a slight melancholic sensation arouse within him but shrugged the emotion off determinedly. Soon, a minute or two into his walk and a slick smile was adorned—what was one or two missed songs compared to the likely—make that, _definite_-likely—ideology of meeting the girls in person? He sincerely just had to compare.

_Nothing_, that's what.

"Izzy!" Sora all but cried out at him, once she had spotted him clear security. He, in reply, smiled at her, eyes bulging for some equivalent of a nanosecond prior to accomplishing an impish wave of the hand as he studied her made-up appearance.

_Prodigious!_ He summed in generic Koushirou fashion, gulping profoundly. The computer-whiz was finding it incredibly hard to swallow the fact that this very girl standing before his eyes was truly his real-life best-friend, Sora Suzuki.

"You look incredible!" He told her in obvious fascination.

Still, Koushirou's fascination was rather short-lived, as through closer inspection glimpses of the auburn-hair's self-intently concealed (or attempting to have concealed) frenetic disposition began to showcase themselves more evidently to him. This was further confirmed, of course, by her next actions of racing towards him in her semi-uncontrolled manner and the brutal initiation of a freakishly choking-tight embrace.

Perhaps…

Was it just him or was Sora arguably stronger than he remembered her since a mere month ago?

"Ack!" Coughed the red-head. "Sora…air!" Urgently—though gently as not to alarm the shaken girl—he tried to remove her from him. Sora quickly took the hint and withdrew swiftly, letting the boy breathe his precious air. "S-Sorry."

Several more coughs forced their escape from the depths of Koushirou's throat before the lad was back in shape for speech.

"Nice to see you too," he greeted her, slotting in friendly sarcasm as a means of perhaps calming the girl's nerves. Sora could be so uptight when it came to situations that involved her singing in front of people she did not trust. It certainly was not very healthy—who knew for sure how many others have suffered the wraths of those crushing hug attacks? Little did he know, who she had picked them up from…

Sora allowed herself a nervous chuckle, knowing the teenager's intentions behind his specific comment. Regardless, it felt good to see him again. It was a major relief really, especially since the majority of new friends she had made in her time here were presently occupied with their performances. Thus, she was left to wait her turn relatively unaccompanied—that is, till he got here.

It was her prime reason for choosing to have him backstage with her during the concert itself; though she had only gotten him to do so now that it was nearly her time-of-debut. Of course, Koushirou had made no hint of an argument as she did possess the _perfect_ lure—a promised, formal introduction between him and the notorious pink-haired 'dream girl' of his fantasies…personally.

"I'm so glad you could make it!" She voiced suddenly, lunging at him again, though thankfully mindful of blocking his passage of oxygen flow this time around.

Koushirou tensed slightly at the rare emotional gesture. It certainly was not very Sora-like—at least not to his experiences. Oh, no, hugging was not so entirely new; the whole clinging-onto-him-for-dear-life thing however, very new; very new indeed.

He hugged back, suspecting of the stress levels his friend might have been exposed to off late. They stayed that way a while, him playing his usual role of support-pillar for the girl.

One would assume society's views had modernized a great deal since the last decade or so, and two teenagers (though they be from opposing genders) hugging each other probably was not that big of a deal these days. Still, that did not dissolve the potential implications it could adhere in say…the girl's father?

"Sora?"

Momentarily caught off guard, the auburn-haired female in his arms looked away from him and towards a middle-aged man, newly coming onto the scene. Silver hair prominent and all, Koushirou registered the famous identity in an instant; eyes widening as he then comprehended he was probably NOT making the _best_ of first impressions…

"Uhh…" _Crap!_

**~O~**

Loud music banged, crowds cheered-yelled-screamed, some worshiped. Lights flickered dangerously (enchantingly), glow-sticks were being waved and tossed into the air on occasions—all elements contributing graciously to the mise-en-scene of Sky! Project's latest group-joint concert, Sky! Project 2009 ~ Thank you for your LOVE!, held at the Yokohama Arena.

Central to the night's spectacle, female idols danced on the grand, over-lit stage; producing a vivid, imaginative moment for their spectators through the artistic movements of their trained physiques, colorful expressions and playful gestures. Ah, but not forgetting the heart and soul carried through the transcendence of their mystical voices and effervescent captivating displays; and all accented by the large, cinema-like screen that seemed to build the moment through various angled (close-up) projections of the performers and the sporadic lyrics to encourage some sing-along action.

"Kari!" TK roared; his exclamation one of the unified-many that often occurred during a Sky! Project concert as such. It was apparently some sort of traditional custom at these concerts—where the fans in the crowd would holler out the name of a specific Sky! Project Kid after they sand their respective solo lines in song.

"Come on, Matt. We actually _had_ to pay for tickets this time so you'd best melt that icy demeanor of yours."

But Yamato retained his somber disposition—chin resting on the back of his palms, which were in turn resting one-atop-the-other on the auditorium's steel-cool balcony railing as he resumed to observe the performances from his upper perch, pensive aloof written all over his handsome face. By a long mile, he appeared the only individual in question out of the mass not thoroughly enjoying himself.

"Hello, Matt?" Takeru interjected, taking a tone. "Anybody home?"

Nothing…

_Apparently not…_

Still eying the stage, the elder blonde expression remained firmly straight. Try as he might, he could not bring himself to enjoy the evening.

_No…_

He could not shake his eyes off a particular brunette, what more with her waltzing about the stage's very center and commanding the larger quantity of solo lines in comparison to her project members.

Oh yes, as if the whole wide world (technically just the whole of Japan) did not already know that he, Yamato 'Matt' Ishida and Jun Motomiya shared history together. He definitely recalled, before their tragically-public split of how he had often frequented Mu$ikCa's concerts. Since then however, he had intentionally missed every last one of them, much to his younger brother's dismay…

Till now.

**~O~**

"Haru," Sora spoke as a mere matter of acknowledging the new presence, though seemingly un-expectant of it. After all, her father had no necessity for being backstage. She was sure his place—where he should be—was in the stands (watching); the V.I.P. section to be absolutely positive.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, only to have the question lay forgotten as she trailed her father's fixed gaze towards her fellow red-head.

Koushirou resembled much of a little-lost-fumbling-uh-something. At least, that was the very impression Sora got out of observing her best-friend the computer-whiz: mouth hung agape, eyes glistening with fear, not to mention he was literally frozen in place.

Sora half-wanted to maybe laugh at him, almost forgetting her nerves—well, almost. And though unknown to her, Haruhiko's thoughts were non-astonishingly in sync with her own; minus the 'wanting-to-laugh-at-him' part.

"Sora, is he…?" The silver-hair began unsurely. He now eyes his daughter, whom, had newly managed to untangle herself from Koushirou's arms with a slight degree of difficulty. As a response, she nodded to him with a lithe smile. Koushirou seemed to apprehend this gesture briefly, then practically diving head-first into a form of panic-disbelief.

"I-I…I'm-!" "I-I'm not-!" He failed to defend, albeit witnessing foggish-ly as the elder male approached Sora and himself.

"This is the guy I've been telling you about," Sora applied, fondly clasping one of Koushirou's fisted palms with both her hands without giving it much thought. The action to Koushirou however, was given a full steam-rolled rush of thoughts; no doubt amplifying his worry of a severe misunderstanding.

_What's she doin!_ His thoughts hissed.

In the mean time, Sora had moved on to introductions. "Izzy, meet Haru-san; Haru, this is Izz—I mean, Koushirou Izumi," she informed. "Koushirou's the one who wrote those songs I had with me."

"I…huh? Oh, uh…yeah, I did…" And all of a sudden he felt a complete idiot—having jumped to conclusions.

Haruhiko noticed. Of course it was not exactly the hardest of things to do—reading off the boy's expressions, which (quite literally) gave everything away. And so, he smiled knowingly.

Sure enough, Sora had already told him before hand about her red-headed best-friend, so the knowledge-prodigy truly had nothing to overtly concern himself about. They all knew nothing was going on. In any case, Sora was mature enough. And Koushirou? Well, he seemed a pretty sensible guy…

Alas, society really had advanced!

At length, Haruhiko offered his hand. "Nice to finally meet you, Koushirou. As you can guess, Sora's mentioned a lot about you." He then turned to his daughter. "I came to wish you luck and to do your best. You have…" he said, glancing at his expensive-looking Rolex, "…five minutes."

_Five minutes!_ Sora shivered at the very thought. By her side, Koushirou cringed noticeably—the auburn-hair was still latching onto his hand and her insane grip-of-death was squashing the living daylights out of him.

The silver-hair kept his laughs private, instead opting to give Sora's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "You'll do fine," he informed her, planting a fleeting kiss to her right cheek before nodding to Koushirou and leaving the teenagers to themselves.

Soon enough, Haruhiko was out of earshot and—seconds later—no longer visible. Only then did it struck Sora that she was hurting the fragile computer-whiz, immediately jumping to release him before he wilted into a pile of nothingness.

Koushirou's face twisted in reprieve instantaneously. "You're a monster!" He accused; half-joking, half-sure of himself.

"Am not!" Sora retorted, surprised at how eased a joke shared with a friend could make one feel. "You're just too weak!" She laughed.

Koushirou noticed the composure change and smiled. "You really will be fine, Sora."

Somehow, hearing him echo her father's words, Sora was humbly grateful. Koushirou had been there to hold her together a lot in the past and having him here today was more than she could ever ask for when it came to a strong bond between good friends…

"Sora, you're up," her dance instructor, Fujiama had then joined them, having come to alert her. She nodded in return, following after him as the crazy-strict instructor lead the way to where she was to enter from backstage; but not before Koushirou had gotten out his last piece to say…

**~O~**

Yamato huffed in frustration, rocking a portion of his blonde fringe minutely with the exhaled breath. Honestly, he knew facing Jun again would be a 'toughy' regardless. After all, it was that very awareness that had kept him away from concerts involving her and rescheduled around events he knew she was likely to attend. As a matter of fact, he would not have even been here tonight if it wasn't for some (stupid little) thing called curiosity. But now that he was…

_Screw curiosity! _Yamato's mind bellowed. Truth was, seeing Jun again wasn't just tough—it was downright painful. Seeing her resurfaced memories he wanted gone; memories of a loss he…never wanted to experience again…

"But that's like saying you never want to be in love again—it's absurd!" Takeru's past argument resonated within. Yamato determined he wanted that one gone too as he recalled what had stemmed from it...

Since that point on, the younger blonde had began continuously shoving random girls in his direction—each one he had refused, politely as possible. It had been almost two months since the rising-star basketball-er's last match-making attempts and in that time Yamato had grown more or less confident his brother had finally decided to call quits. And yet, here he was, attending Sky! Project's latest concert, somehow having agreed to be bothered by Takeru's latest target.

_Cusiosity_, he recited, psyching himself. _Purely curiosity…_

So that _curiosity_ of his was strong enough to make him risk facing Jun again…how?

_Screw curiosity!!_

"Woo! Yeah!!" Clapped Takeru."Not long more," he addressed his brother.

"Sora's gorgeous, Matt—you'll like her," Takeru related, full of good spirits. His eyes never abandoning the stage as its performers began singing to 'Fake Love'…

"_Just because I fall in love, it only makes me feel lonely.  
And even with that, I still want the warm-feeling.  
Just Kidding.  
Acting like a good person makes me feel depressed.  
Still I halfheartedly fake a smile."_

Yamato sighed heavily. "TK, I don't care. I just want to know how good a singer she is."

"That's it," he finalized.

But Takeru seemed to ignore the rather serious side of his brother's tone, fishing out a pointed-chuckle. "Bro, I could have told you she's a force to be reckoned with all on my own."

"You haven't heard her sing yet." Yamato shot him a skeptical look, incredulous.

"But Kari has." The rock star was about to snap back but Takeru gave him no leave. "And so has dad, and MINt…"

"That's diffe-!"

"Ah, and the oh-great Haruhiko Takenouchi," he added, rubbing the name in his brother's face.

As expected, Yamato's left eye twitched at the mention of it and he turned away with an unmistakable grunt of irritation. Takeru only laughed harder, attention back on his girlfriend as she and the others finished 'Fake Love' and started filtering off the stage before next speaking to the elder blonde. "Seriously, what's your fault with the man?"

Yamato shifted uneasily in his position. "Nothing," he spat, indifferent.

"Doesn't sound like _nothing_ to me."

"Look I'm just…bored…of people repeating how _great_ he is. I mean, I know already so just give it a rest why don't you!"

"Sounds like your ego talking," Takeru commented.

Yamato simply rolled his eyes and muttered something about 'annoying baby brothers', dropping the matter aside. He wasn't exactly in a discussion mood.

The Rock Star was almost certain his brother would instantaneously pursue but was amazed to find Takeru switch back into concert-mode and shouting out his girlfriend's name from across the hall.

Confused, Yamato looked to the stage too, this time actually seeing the visuals instead of blocking them out in favor of the thoughts in his head. In doing so, his eyes focused on two very distinguished females of the Sky! Project label; one his brother's lover, Hikari Yagami and the other a sparky, pink-haired dramaqueen, Mimi Tachikawa—both had re-emerged at the very top of the stage, dressed in individual outfits of navy-blues, whites and reds.

_This is it_, he thought.

**~O~**

The crowd, most of who had almost thought to depart, had now reclaimed their various standpoints, following the instructions of one attractive, pink-haired diva who had seductively placed a finger to her lips.

Mimi was truly amazing at garnering the undivided sort of attention from the fans. It was just one of her many outstanding qualities that ranked the pink-hair amongst the most prominent figures of Sky! Project.

Soon the hall was silent enough so that a drop of water would probably turn heads. Mimi smiled her perky-gracious thanks, then gesturing to the younger girl by her side.

"Everyone!" Hikari called out to the crowd, adapting the typical fan-addressing-during-concerts tone to her voice and calling on audience participation. "How's everyone enjoying the concert tonight?" Her response was a non-surprising burst of positive screams. The female duo laughed.

"Wow, you guys are the greatest! Aren't they Mimi?"

"They sure are. Come to think of it, Kari, they were really, really, REALLY loud for us tonight, weren't they?" Mimi asked back, waving enthusiastic hands in a series of expanding circles to enunciate her point—oh-typical-perk-ish Mimi.

Hikari nodded, smiling hard. "Well, then it's a good thing we've got a _very_," she emphasized, "special surprise set up for them tonight!" More thunderous cheers were heard.

"Well everyone, what do you say – wanna hear Kari and I sing a new song?" Again came the massive response of squeals, shrieks and yellings. The audience seemed to really be digging it.

"Ah, but that's not the _real_ surprise, now is it, Mimi?"

The pink-hair in question giggled infectiously at that. "No, but we have a really amazing audience here tonight, Kari. They'll figure it out, right?" She winked—the crowd went wild! "I think that's a yes, Kari."

"Well then, are you ready?" The lights dimmed, shinning spotlights on the performers as they cued in their signals:

"Here!" Hikari called out to the arena as her light came on, striking a pose soon to be mimicked by Mimi…

"We!" …and…

"Go!" Sora.

**----------**

**To be continued…**

**Songs:** title : (artist[s])

Fake Love/Nanchatte Renai : (Morning Musume)

Credits for translation-lyrics go to LDK from a promotional video (PV) posted on Youtube.


	10. Chapter 9::GROOVY GROOVY

_::Yume de Aru Youni::_

**Heard of the J-Pop group 'Buono!'? Well, I decided to 'digify' them. My first attempt at SORATO. More info inside. AU-ish.**

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**Thank You's:**

As usual, they go out to the reviewers. Thanks so much to KoumiLoccness and Yamora Love n Friendship! May heaven shine blessed rays of lucky-light down upon your souls—okay, that just sounds corny~ XP

To KoumiLoccness, you were warned this story would be slowing down since I'm back to my studies, lol. And as to Yamora Love n Friendship, thanks for the luck, I might really pull through unscathed after all! Hwee~~~

**Author's Rant:**

Well if anyone remembers the last 'Notice!' chapter, yeah (have placed the _Author's Rant_ portion of it below just incase). I promised I'd have this story updated latest by the end of the month and boy am I glad I could keep that promise. I'm in a slightly better mood now with two (2) out of the three (3) essays done and handed in. Yay me! Can't say it was easy though but I'm really glad I only have one more left to finish up by the end of next week~ ^_^

So about this chapter, if you remember the last one then you'd know it's concert time here. Therefore, prepare for some (highly likely) cheesy-ness. Also, anyone heard Morning Musume's (Momosu) latest single, 'Kimagure Princess'? It's seriously worth a listen—provided one likes J-Pop music, that is. Regardless, do check it out!

PS: This chapter will probably end up shorter than some of the previous ones. Nonetheless, I need it to stop where it stops so yeah~ XP

**Information:**

The performance in this chapter was loosely (okay, maybe not all that lose) lifted from Buono!'s recent spring concert, _Hybrid Punch!_ You're all encouraged to watch the available footage through _Youtube_ to get an idea. Concert _Part 12_ if I'm not mistaken.

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**Chapter 9 ~ GROOVY GROOVY**

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"Here!"

"We!"

"Go!"

Sora was amazed at the strength and conviction her own voice held as the spotlight came on, shortly ensued by the booming audio of a perky-funky, rockish tune she had grown so accustomed to singing along to in the past three weeks.

_What is this…feeling?_ She soon found herself wondering as an alien emotion surged through her veins, blood pumping hard to her rapidly beating heart—some unknown desire and a sense of unforeseen elation the auburn-hair could not place. It wasn't the butterflies, Sora knew that much. She had braved the butterflies earlier on before she took to the vast stage and the girl knew this was an entirely different sensation altogether.

So, what was it then?

_To stand there, even if just once, especially for the first time; to have that mic in your hands, a bright light shining down on you, and to see and hear people you don't even know there shouting and cheering you on with all their might…it can change a person's life in ways they'd have never thought possible. Being on stage can be a scary thing, Sora. But it can also be the best thing that ever happens to you—you decide: where you will go from here._

Koushirou's relayed message had been much appreciated. Though, heard earlier, the words had left Sora somewhat doubtful as to whether she truly had the capacity within to alter her fear into…well, into a love of performing for a live audience. All her life she had constantly pushed herself, trying and telling others she would give it her best though deep down a lingering dread and uncertainty had always lain, threat fully preventing her growth. And yet, now that she was here, in this position…it didn't seem all too scary anymore. Rather…it felt…great.

_Thanks, mom._

Colored lights flickered in a rock-concert sort of pattern and words flashed across the screen-of-a-backdrop, indicating the cheerful rock song's title, 'Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!'. The catchy melody hummed notoriously across the colossal hall as the three idols began dancing along in time to the skippy beat, hopingly switching directions left and right at 45 degree angles while waving a pointing finger as if to appear cute and sly; smiles never leaving their faces. Together, the trio performed the choreographed moves beaten into their heads through muscle memory and countless drilling, looking ideally in sync.

As the short intro came and went and the rockish melody mellowed down a touch to permit vocals, it was Sora whose voice claimed the first line of the song:

"_You can't think that the answers exist somewhere  
The answers only exist inside you…"_

The audience roared in amazement—people would turn about restlessly in their positions, only to cast shock-filled gazes at their friends; mouths hung agape, eyes bulged and many were frozen on the spot.

"Who is she?"

"Oh my god, she's unbelievable!" Haruhiko heard some raving fans scream several rows ahead of him. He had to smirk knowingly at their reactions. Sora was definitely something else and so far no one had been immune to the overwhelming spectacle that was her voice. To be her father, the man felt enduringly honoured. Standing beside Hiroaki, the brunette briefly caught the silver-hair's eye contact, offering him a congratulatory clap on the back as they both watched the scene unfold onwards.

"_You're cool  
Just the way you are, with your honest feelings and everything  
It's definitely love  
Right now, with these overflowing feelings and everything…"_

Song approaching the first chorus, the trio danced and sang their respective solos and the combined harmonies graciously well, then breaking out of formation for the next verse. Mimi waltzed over to the left of the massive stage while Sora and Hikari took to the right. Witty-cutesy gestures were made at fitting intervals in accordance to the song's lyrics and expressions were exaggeratedly altered wherever appropriate as the three addressed their audience who seemed to be having a blast.

"_Try facing the sun and bumping into it with all your might  
Face forward, and lift your head up, there's no time for crying…"_

Somewhere strategic amongst the crowd, a purple-haired prodigy-composer bopped her head in time to the unforgettable tune of her own genius-ity and a raven-haired apprentice photographer was steadfastly snapping away, intent on not missing any good shots. Meanwhile, backstage, a red-head was given a close-up view of things—albeit with a backward viewpoint. Still, glimpsing the spirited expression on his best-friend's countenance, he was surely enjoying this as much as anyone.

"_A kiss of passion! A kiss to this 'youth'!  
I love you, working so hard  
The best kiss! A kiss to all 'your power'!  
I want to show you all these feelings in my heart  
I l.o.v.e y.o.u!"_

The crowd had caught on to the memorable chorus come the second round of it, enthusiastically singing along to the lyrics posted on the overhead backdrop screen. Just then, the trio pulled back from the stage's corners as the song's hard-rocking instrumental break had come into hearing. Together, they gathered center stage. With the electrifying bridge playing as if on repeat, Mimi called out to the crowd.

"Alright everyone, I wanna hear some _real_ audience participation now!" She voiced into her microphone.

"Shout 'Kiss me baby!' for us on count, kay?" The pink-hair winked flirtatiously at that, garnering a staggeringly even louder roar than before (if that was humanly possible). It was as it every last male in the oversized hall were truly craving an actual kiss from the one and only Mimi Tachikawa.

The mentioned pink-hair raised three fingers and started her countdown in pace to the song's rhythm. "Come on!"

"Kiss me baby!" Hikari guided as the specific three-word-sentence flashed notably on the screen backdrop to cue the audience in.

"Louder!" Urged the young brunette. She then waited for the precise moment of the repetitive tune to arrive a second time before calling in another cue. "And go!"

"KISS ME BABY!"

"Woo!" Mimi perked at the loud reaction. "Let's go, one more time!"

"Kiss!" The trio guided.

"KISS!"

"Kiss!"

"KISS!"

"KISS ME BABY!!"

"Rocking!" Hikari praised the fans as the melody softened into the bridge.

Each girl sang her solo line, the crowd still marveling at Sora's impressive vocals. Following Mimi's line: "If you're down occasionally, it's OK to sleep until noon" however, the music cut off completely in one fell sweep and the stage was enshrouded in utter darkness with individual dimmed-spotlights shining over each idol as they pretend-slept on different points of the stage; eyes shut, heads bowed and everything.

The crowd went on cheering, though laughter sounded evident here and there. Obviously, many thought the sync between the on-stage actions and the lyrics were becomingly cute and entertaining.

Mimi 'slept' on the central steps, herself being closest to the audience. Hikari was positioned to the left of the stage's middle platform, leaning against the steps that elevated beyond the stage and Sora was on those very steps itself, though a little more off to the right side of the stage.

"Haha, they're asleep!" TK stated laughingly as he eyed his girlfriend fake sleep-standing.

"Cute, don't you think, Matt?"

"…"

"Matt?"

Several seconds longer and the sound of a ringing alarm clock permeated the concert air, causing each feign-sleeping girl to arise at its shrill sound. Acting, the trio feigned a tad drowsiness and put on somewhat confused-as-to-where-they-were expressions before jokey smiles claimed their pretty faces. They instantly gathered center-stage for the final round of the song's chorus. Lights beamed full blast and confetti popped into the air as they began to sing it, finishing off as Sora let her powerful voice echo the song's second-last line to the crowd; whom Hikari beckoned to sing the final line of the song:

"_I l.o.v.e y.o.u!"_

The rocking melody went on some as the trio danced their final steps, gesturing to the energized crowd to keep cheering. Keeping the energy levels on high, each girl dashed across the stage from one end to the other in random order to address those by the sides before stationing at the center of the stage's mid-level platform where each announced their respective names to the crowd.

"Hikari Yagami!" The brunette declared, going first to follow a left to right sequence.

"Mimi Tachikawa!"

"Sora Suzuki!" The auburn-hair announced, a vivid smile on her face. This was truly an experience.

"And we are Mello-D!" She continued, exclaiming to the excited bunch. All said and done, the performance ended with a short jump down by the trio to the lower level at the accented final note. And so came the emergence of one gigantic uproar. Those in the higher levels with seats stood, religiously applauding the finale performance. It was clear Mello-D had brought down the house tonight and were here to stay.

**~O~**

"That was epic!!!" TK cried, as if somehow expecting his exclamation to be heard over this unbelievable din.

Hoots and thunderous clapping seemed to refuse to cease. Sora scanned the sight before her in bewildered-admiration. Her body felt hot and exerted, as if she had just given the performance of a lifetime and yet it was only her first.

_It's worth it,_ Hikari's words from before resonated in her thought. She realized the younger girl was right—this was definitely worth it. Her mother was right too. Tonight's performance could have gone either way, and she chose…

Having spotted her father amongst the VIPs in advance, Sora cast her gaze his way, smiling gratefully as she watched him mouth her brilliance to her with Hiroaki doing the same from beside him. Other distinguishable faces were visible in the crowd as she followed both Mimi's and Hikari's gazes, the former's leading to Ken and MINt (or Miyako) waving and shouting praises of some sort.

Following Hikari's however, led to the higher level balcony-stands area where she spotted the dancing queen's boyfriend, Takeru, who seemed to be mouthing 'kiss me baby' to his girlfriend. The younger blonde caught Sora's eyes the moment after though, flashing her a wink of acknowledgement before gesturing to his right. Sora's ruby orbs followed by instinct, then freezing as piercing ice-blue ceruleans stared back at her.

_Bad move!_ She thought next, realizing who this other male must be, what with the male's sand-blonde hair and those striking cerulean eyes. And to think she found Takeru attractive—this guy was in a league of his own.

It was then when Sora recalled Jun's previous warning: _Look Sora, you obviously don't handle the whole 'all eyes on me' thing very well and fact is, Yamato is precisely the guy you'd want to stay away from to avoid such overwhelming attention, even if he is amazing._ And one way or another it really hit her—this was Takeru's older brother and the very guy he was going to try to hook her up with, Yamato 'Matt' Ishida. Sora didn't know what to make of it and somehow she felt quite…

…afraid.

"Thank you!!" Mimi's exclamation brought the auburn-hair back to her senses. Sora managed her preceding smile somehow and waved her appreciation to the audience, mimicking her two group mates before the trio made their way off stage, stapling the end of the night's concert.

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**To be continued…**

Just to clear up any confusion. The CAPS LOCK at the 'Kiss me baby!' part indicates the audience's participation. Alright then, please continue to R&R peeps! ^_^

Also, below are part of the contents from the previous 'Notice!' chapter (which will be likely removed):

_Okay, so now you're all (assumed readers) probably wondering what on Earth I've been up to lately, having not updated this in so long. Well, I'd first like to take the time to say 'sorry' for that, so here goes: "SORRY!!!" *rushes to deserted corner and cries* XP_

_Yeah, being truthful, of course thoughts of updating this story have been haunting me over the past weeks and I've been stressing on doing so several times (Nixie the Water Mage has had to deal with that stress of mine so major thanks to her for putting up with me, haha) because I seriously didn't want to lose any loyal readers. I already have the thing drafted out for goodness sakes and it honestly just needs some sprucing up here and there because I'm one of those freaking perfectionist types who can't stand putting something up if she's not at least 99.9% pleased with it—darns me! XP_

_Anyways, that hardly answers the 'why' question huh. Well, I suppose the gist of it would be some…complications with a friend? I've been trying hard to not let the personal situation bug me but I guess it's hard not to be even a little distracted and I find myself lounging about trying to think things over when I really should be getting my assignments out of the way. So (as anyone might guess) I'm now stuck with three essays to finish up in a hurry—if my grades suffer severely I'm so murdering someone (eh…not literally, I hope XP)._

_Well peeps, what else can I say. I just hope people are still interested in this story and are willing to read on. For now, the best I can do is to assure an update latest by the end of the month, so till then!_

_*returns to her stack of essay research materials*_

_PS: Buono!'s latest single 'Bravo*Bravo' (though not officially released yet) sounds absolutely awesome—plus member Airi (the voice of the group, in my opinion) is center yet again. *squeals* XD_

**Songs: **title : (artist[s])

Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! : (Buono!)


	11. Quick Notice

**Notice (not chapter)**

Maaaaan, I seriously hate real life for getting in my way of focusing on continuing this fanfiction because I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally want to see it through till the end. It's been like what...almost two years now? Gosh time flies, and I've had so many crappy things thrown my way it's not even funny...well, no, it's definitely not, especially since I'm suspecting I've lost tons of readers already. *sighs*

The good thing is I do have some time to spare now that it's the semester holidays, approximately three weeks or so, and I fully intend to get at least a chapter (or two) up in that amount of time - already working on it. It's nearing graduation though so I actually do have to put this fanfiction as secondary for my upcoming last semester of University once the present holiday is over, but I'll have one looooong super break of freedom once I have my degree firmly in possession; freedom to finish this thing ONCE AND FOR ALL that is. And heck this gives the Hello! Project groups the leave of releasing more epic singles along the way for me to incorporate when I'm ready to finish this, haha!

As a side note, I've thoroughly re-read all of my chapters and am looking to edit some simple things like grammer, spelling, blah blah, and add a few minute details that should enrich the story further down the road. That should be done...who knows, later today or tomorrow? And if I stay motivated enough I dare say I should have the next chapter up by the start of next week. *praaays*

Woo! And...I think that's all for my rant for now.


	12. Back Soon

**Story Will Be In Motion Again Soon**

Lalala...

I know in the previous _notice_ I mentioned that I'd have a chapter up in like a week or so and while I had every intention of doing just that real-life circumstances got in my way again - Grrrr!

Please forgive this rant but (hey I'm a rant-er, get used to it!) I ended up getting sick and stuff shortly after posting that last notice; multiple trips to the emergency part of hospitals in less than a month, leading to complications with pursuing my studies, which then led to some other family-related difficulties, blah blah.

So yes, long story short, as things stand now I've ended up making the decision to postpone studies till my health improves, mainly to focus on recovering and stuff. The good news about this? Well, now I actually have the time to get back to writing this story without (probably) having to leave it on hiatus anytime soon. Therefore...I'LL FINISH THE NEXT CHAPTER REAL SOON!

P.S. : To those who have stuck to reading this story thus far, sincerely, thank you~


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